Download 2016 Drinking Water Week Factsheet

Water in Space
In 2011, astronomers discovered an enormous cloud of water vapor surrounding an ancient quasar
containing 140 trillion times the water in all of
the Earth’s oceans. Light from the cloud traveled
from 12 billion light-years to reach us. Even a
long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, we know
that there was water. Lots of water.
Most of the water in our Solar System is not
located on Earth, but rather beyond the orbit of
Mars, and it is in the form of ice.
Each cubic foot of Martian soil contains around
two pints of liquid water, though the molecules
are not freely accessible, but rather bound to
other minerals in the soil.
Comets & Asteroids
Many asteroids and comets are made of a
mixture of rock and ice. In 2000, scientists
observed comet LINEAR expel roughly 3.3 billion kilograms of water when it approached the sun and
melted. That is enough water to fill a lake.
Moons
NASA has discovered water in the form of ice on Earth’s moon. Many of the moons that orbit Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus and Neptune also contain a significant quantity of ice. Further out, there is the Kuiper
belt and Oort cloud, both of which are be believed to be populated largely by icy snow-balls.
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Ganymede – Jupiter’s biggest moon, has an icy outer layer and salty water/slush beneath.
Europa – Jupiter’s moon has liquid water 62 miles thick covered in solid ice.
Callisto – Is a moon of Jupiter with a 6 mile deep ocean below a 124 mile thick layer of ice.
Titan – Saturn’s moons that is suspected to have a watery core.
Enceladus – This moon of Saturn may have water that alternately undergoes sublimation and
deposition, including ice volcanoes!
Scientists are interested in studying planets and moons for
signs of water, as water is a necessary element for life, and
where we find water, there is the potential to find life.
Water on Earth
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There is about the same amount of water on Earth now
as there was millions of years ago.
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It is possible that the water on Earth originated from
icy comets impacting the Earth’s atmosphere, turning
into the liquid water that became our oceans.
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Ocean tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and
the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun acting on
ocean water.
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While 71% of Earth is covered in water, only about 3%
of the water is fresh water.
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85% of world population lives in the driest half of the planet.
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783 Million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access
to adequate sanitation.
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1/3 of what the world spends on bottled water in one year could pay for projects providing
water to everyone in need.
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Water is a necessary element for life on Earth and on other planets. Imagine scientists
discovering another planet with water on it and with life on it. What if only some of the alien
life forms had access to clean water?
Drinking Water in Space
Water is expensive to move, typically
costing around $10,000 per pound
($80,000 per gallon) to launch into space.
SpaceX is currently building and testing
rockets that would lower the cost to
around $1,000 per pound to launch into
space.
The Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions
only used water once and then discarded
the waste. (Imagine a $7,500 bottle of water.)
On the Space Shuttle, water was produced as a byproduct of the fuel cells and then stored, so
transporting and recycling water was not an issue.
On the International Space Station (ISS), there are no fuel cells. Therefore most of the water must be
recycled. The Water Recovery System (WRS) recovers 93% of the liquid it receives. This saves over
15,000lbs of water per year. If the ISS did not reuse that water, they would need to spend an
additional $150 Million per year to provide enough water to the astronauts.
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Water vapor collected from exhalation and sweat, as well as waste water from urine, sinks and
showers is collected and recycled into drinkable water.
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However, some water is lost through unusable brine (saltwater), oxygen generating systems and
any lost air w/ humidity.
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To make up for the loss of water, additional water is produced using the Sabatier System: a
process that uses a catalyst to react with carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce water. This
prevents NASA from needing to transport additional water to the space station.
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Astronauts from different countries on the International Space Station (ISS) use different methods
for purifying their water. The Russians used colloidal silver, while the Americans used iodine,
along with additional filtration steps.
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They purify water to greater extremes than drinking water on earth, including filtration and a
catalytic oxidation reactor for removing volatile organic compounds and bacteria.
Showers on Earth take 13 gallons, ISS
astronauts use 1 gallon.
Most foods sent into space are
dehydrated and vacuum sealed on Earth
in order to preserve them and make
them more light weight. Once in space,
astronauts have to rehydrate the food
with either hot or cold water, depending
on the dish.
Check out the Vermont Drinking Water Week’s website and links to additional facts and info!
http://vtdww.org/
http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/conserve.htm
http://blueplanetnetwork.org/water/
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/water.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/11/13/water.moon.nasa/index.html?iref=24hours
http://www.space.com/7987-tons-water-ice-moon-north-pole.html
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/146558main_RecyclingEDA(final)%204_10_06.pdf
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/pdf/104840main_eclss.pdf