WASHINGTON. April 24 (Interfax) - Russian crewmembers of the International Space Station (ISS) have to consume hot water from U.S. reserves after they found a yellowish admixture in hot water given in the national segment, an informed source told Interfax.
"A yellowish admixture of an unknown origin has been detected in hot water in the Russian segment of the ISS. So, Russian cosmonauts have been advised using drinking water from reserves of the U.S. segment and regenerate water for technical needs," the source said.
It could be pollution of the water stored in tank of the Progress MS-07 resupply ship or a problem with the water heater in the Russian segment.
U.S. astronauts are regenerating water from urine.
A similar experimental system is being installed by Russian cosmonauts in the Russian Rassvet module.
A system of the kind was used by Russia's Mir orbital station.
The Nauka multipurpose laboratory module, which will be attached to the ISS in 2019, has a similar standard system. The system may be modified for use by the manned mission to the Moon, which will build a lunar station within the framework of the Deep Space Gateway project.
"The spaceship can take aboard only a limited amount of drinking water, but the demand for it will be high. The system can meet this demand to a considerable degree," the source said.
Russian crewmembers of the ISS have not been regenerating drinking water from urine so far, the source said. Such waste is removed from the ISS' Russian segment by "Progress" resupply ships, which partially burn in dense layers of the atmosphere and partially sink in the 'spaceship cemetery' in the Pacific.