MOSCOW. May 7 (Interfax) - Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have so far failed to ensure steady conversion of urine into drinking water; the experimental system is operating with glitches, a source in the space rocket industry told Interfax.
"The cosmonauts ran into a number of problems while trying to recycle urine into water under conditions of micro-gravitation on the experimental SRV-U-RS system. Sensors showing insufficient urine in the system and insufficient quality of the concentrate keep going off," the source said.
However, errors disappear once the system stops and resets itself, only to re-appear later.
It was reported in April of this year that the Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov had installed the SRV-U-RS experimental water-reclaiming system aboard the ISS's Russian Rassvet Module.
The equipment was delivered to the ISS by Progress freighters. If the experiment proves successful, the system will start being used on a daily basis.