NASA’s Trash-to-Treasure System: Turning Space Waste into Moon & Mars Resources
NASA has transported its portable wastewater treatment system from Florida to the University of North Dakota (UND) in Grand Forks. The facility is designed to convert crew wastewater into reusable resources for long-duration missions on the Moon and Mars.
Key Details
- The Trailer-Sized System: Housed in an 8.5-by-24-foot trailer, the facility includes three biological reactor systems, a vertical garden, water-polishing hardware, environmental monitoring, autonomous control software, and safety systems.
- Testing at UND: At the university, the facility will be integrated with UND’s Integrated Lunar/Martian Analog Habitat. Tests will involve student operators and NASA researchers studying performance under simulated planetary operational limits.
- How It Works: The system separates waste streams (urine, hygiene water, laundry water, fecal waste, food waste) and uses three different bioreactors:
- Anaerobic Phototrophic Membrane Bioreactor for fecal and food waste
- Suspended Aerobic Membrane Bioreactor for urine and flush water
- Membrane Aerated Biological Reactor for graywater
- Nutrient Recovery: Nutrients from the bioreactors feed a hydroponic vertical garden.
- Broader Goal: The work is part of NASA's Bioregenerative Life Support Systems effort, aiming to reduce dependence on Earth-supplied consumables by recovering water, recycling nutrients, and supporting crop production.
- Interface: The facility was connected to the habitat through a bathroom interface with a urine-diverting toilet to allow source separation.
- Future Tech: Parallel research by Ali Alshami's team is developing novel membrane-based separation technologies for future integration.
Key Statements
Luke Roberson, surface water systems lead at NASA Kennedy: "The goal is to develop sustainable lunar surface systems to process wastewater into nutrient feedstocks for plants and biomanufacturing."
Pablo De Leon, professor and chair of Space Studies at UND: "The testing supports technology maturation toward demonstration in an analog habitat environment."
J.J. Edelmann, surface systems domain lead at NASA Headquarters: "The effort is part of moving to a circular economy for crew sustainability on the Moon and Mars."
Broader Context
- Long-term goals include potential integration with NASA's yearlong simulated Mars missions at Johnson Space Center.
- Cross-cutting research also explores using wastewater-recovered resources for in-space manufacturing, such as producing lactic acid for 3D printing with lunar or Martian regolith.