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Analysis of water from the Space Shuttle and Mir Space Station by ion chromatography and capillary electrophoresisDrinking water and condensate samples collected from the US Space Shuttle and the Russian Mir Space Station are analyzed routinely at the NASA-Johnson Space Center as part of an ongoing effort to verify water quality and monitor the environment of the spacecraft. Water quality monitoring is particularly important for the Mir water supply because approximately half of the water consumed is recovered from humidity condensate. Drinking water on Shuttle is derived from the fuel cells. Because there is little equipment on board the spacecraft for monitoring the water quality, samples collected by the crew are transported to Earth on Shuttle or Soyuz vehicles, and analyzed exhaustively. As part of the test battery, anions and cations are measured by ion chromatography, and carboxylates and amines by capillary electrophoresis. Analytical data from Shuttle water samples collected before and after several missions, and Mir condensate and potable recovered water samples representing several recent missions are presented and discussed. Results show that Shuttle water is of distilled quality, and Mir recovered water contains various levels of minerals imparted during the recovery processes as designed. Organic ions are rarely detected in potable water samples, but were present in humidity condensate samples.
Document ID
20040172671
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Orta, D.
(Krug Life Sciences Houston, TX 77058-2787, United States)
Mudgett, P. D.
Ding, L.
Drybread, M.
Schultz, J. R.
Sauer, R. L.
Date Acquired
August 22, 2013
Publication Date
April 24, 1998
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of chromatography. A
Volume: 804
Issue: 1-2
Subject Category
Environment Pollution
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
NASA Discipline Environmental Health
manned
short duration
STS Shuttle Project
long duration
NASA Center JSC
Mir Project
Flight Experiment

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