Nicolau�s team decided to build on these initial findings to meet the challenges of dealing with urine in space. They collected urine and shower wastewater and processed it using forward osmosis, a way to filter contaminants from urea, a major component of urine, and water.
As a tun, a tardigrade can survive for decades or even longer; once immersed in water, the body returns to a normal metabolic state over the course of a few hours.
The feat can supply water to a crew of seven astronauts in the ISS and fulfil their minimal water requirements. Without this technology, NASA would have to send over 40 thousand pounds of water to ISS to resupply a crew of four.
Water in space: What you need to know. Surprisingly, there�s no shortage of water in space. In fact, scientists discovered a cloud of water vapour around a black hole, with enough water to supply every person on Earth with a planet�s worth of water 20,000 times over.