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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. 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 There is about the same amount of water on Earth now as there was millions of years ago. 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. Ocean tides are caused by the rotation of the Earth and the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun acting on ocean water. While 71% of Earth is covered in water, only about 3% of the water is fresh water. 85% of world population lives in the driest half of the planet. 783 Million people do not have access to clean water and almost 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. 1/3 of what the world spends on bottled water in one year could pay for projects providing water to everyone in need. 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. Water vapor collected from exhalation and sweat, as well as waste water from urine, sinks and showers is collected and recycled into drinkable water. However, some water is lost through unusable brine (saltwater), oxygen generating systems and any lost air w/ humidity. 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. 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. 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