US astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) are repairing the US-made water processor mechanism that got out of order last weer on the station's US segment, according to NASA
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2021) US astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) are repairing the US-made water processor mechanism that got out of order last weer on the station's US segment, according to NASA.
Water Processor Assembly (WPA) in the Tranquility module was powered off last week due to a possible leak, the space agency said. However, the disorder did not affect crew members, as they have enough water stored on the station to last for several months if necessary. The crew started repairing the water processor on Monday.
"In the Tranquility module, NASA Flight Engineer Shane Kimbrough spent the day on orbital plumbing duties. He was assisted throughout Tuesday by Pesquet and NASA Flight Engineer Mark Vande Hei as they serviced the Water Processing Assembly (WPA) to repair a possible leak," NASA wrote on its blog late on Tuesday.
Crew members, in particular, removed the affected parts of the WPA and conducted a dryout of the lines, the space agency said, adding that maintenance works will continue on Wednesday "with the installation of the replacement units and additional preventative maintenance to restore the hardware to its full functionality."
The WPA system is used to recycle water from multiple sources into clean, drinkable ones for crew members. It has various tools for the treatment of wastewater, including filtration, ion exchange, adsorption, catalytic oxidation, and iodination.
