Themultimillion dollar piddle recyclerrecently set up by spaceman aboard the International Space Station is still experiencing some pocket-size issues this evening , entail work party members will just have to wait to have their first peetinis , Long Island Iced Pees , Whiskpee Sours and other lame pee - theme drinks I have yet to cerebrate of . The epitome recycler , which separates waste from water using a centrifuge system , was brought to the station aboard the latest shuttle mission . It malfunctioned two hours after installing , although a separate sweat and waste pee recycler is working as expected . Phew!An early fix was attempted today by shuttle captain Michael Fincke and fellow astronaut Don Pettit ( * no$100,000 pecker bags were harmedin the fashioning of this fixing ) . The two astronaut reported hearing a “ novel sound ” from the simple machine after the stamping ground , and three hours later it keep out down again . It was able to sue “ about a gallon of urine ” in that time period . Under optimal weather condition , the recycler is supposed to run four hours a pop . Now , we jest about tope urine , but this is actually a pretty serious issue — specially if the ISS crew is go to double from three to six in 2009 as planned . Theoretical missions to Mars will also bank on the prototype , because water is heavy , and lugging it between planets is prohibitively expensive . And , make matters worse is the fact that this piss - cleanse uber - gadget is one - of - a - sort . There is no cosmic Home Depot that NASA can go to for a replacement . “ We have n’t started lecture about when we ’d block off troubleshooting on orbit and resolve to play the unit plate , ” Courtenay McMillan enunciate . “ That ’s a reasonably big decision to make . ” Indeed . And so is take in that first sip of urine H2O . sunniness ! [ MSNBC ]
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