A 2024 research paper proposed a system that would collect urine inside an astronaut’s spacesuit, process it into water and deliver that water to the suit’s drink bag. The design takes inspiration from the stillsuits in Dune, but it is a concept with performance targets—not a tested, operational or flight-qualified spacesuit system.
How the proposed spacesuit system would work
The concept is designed for extravehicular activity (EVA), when an astronaut works outside a spacecraft. It would replace the existing absorbent approach with a modified maximum-absorbency garment. The garment would collect urine while containing feces separately to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
- Collect: An external silicone urine-collection cup, with different designs described for male and female astronauts, directs urine into the system.
- Detect and transfer: A humidity sensor detects urine and triggers a vacuum pump to move it toward filtration.
- Filter: Forward osmosis uses a concentration gradient to move water across a semipermeable membrane. Reverse osmosis then applies pressure to extract water as permeate. The paper presents forward osmosis as a lower-energy pre-filtration step, followed by reverse osmosis for water extraction.
- Return water to the drink bag: A pump and one-way valve would send the permeate into the in-suit drink bag. The authors note that salts and electrolytes would need to be returned to the water.
The researchers discuss membrane fouling and other engineering challenges; the proposal does not establish maintenance-free operation or reliable performance in real EVA conditions. The 2024 paper describes the system and its development status.
What the paper’s performance figures mean
These numbers are targets and design estimates reported by Etlin and colleagues in their 2024 paper, not results from a flight-ready integrated system.
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| Measure | Figure | Status and meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Urine collection | 85% | Target collection rate in the proposed design, not an operational EVA result. |
| Water recovery | At least 75% | Minimum target recovery from the collected urine, not a demonstrated recovery rate for an integrated suit system. |
| Filtrate salt concentration | Below 250 ppm NaCl | Target for the filtered water; it does not by itself establish that the water is ready to drink. |
| Added system mass | About 8 kg | Paper’s estimate for the added system, not a measured flight configuration. |
| Back-mounted package | About 38 × 23 × 23 cm | Paper’s estimated package dimensions. |
The estimated mass and package size matter because the system would add hardware to an already constrained suit. The authors identify mass and suit power capacity as design constraints.
Why recycle water during a spacewalk?
NASA’s Space Flight Human-System Standard, Volume 2 specifies at least 240 mL of potable water per hour for EVA suited operations and calls for urine collection capacity based on activity duration. NASA also says the 0.95 L in-suit drink bag alone does not meet the minimum hydration recommendation for moderate activity. A system that could recover water during an EVA is intended to address that hydration constraint while managing waste.
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The paper’s proposed 85% collection and 75% recovery targets should not be treated as proof that the system could meet an astronaut’s hydration needs. They describe design goals; actual usefulness would depend on integrated performance, water quality, power, reliability and the demands of a particular EVA.
How it differs from today’s spacesuits and the ISS water system
| System | Where it operates | Collection and processing | Hydration and status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing spacesuit approach | During an EVA, inside the suit | Uses an absorbent garment to manage urine; no in-suit urine-to-drinking-water recovery is established by the cited sources. | NASA specifies at least 240 mL of potable water per hour for EVA suited operations. The drink bag has a 0.95 L capacity, which NASA says is insufficient by itself for the minimum moderate-activity hydration recommendation. |
| Proposed Dune-inspired system | Intended to operate inside an EVA suit | Collection cup and humidity-triggered vacuum pump feed forward-osmosis and reverse-osmosis stages. | Would send recovered water to the drink bag; the 2024 paper reports design targets and incomplete testing, not flight qualification. |
| ISS water-recovery system | Aboard the International Space Station, not inside a spacesuit during an EVA | Recovers urine through vacuum distillation and processes residual brine with a brine processor; it also collects cabin humidity. Filtration, catalytic treatment and sensor checks are part of treatment. Batches that fail checks can be reprocessed, and iodine is added before storage. | NASA reported 98% total station water recovery in an article updated in 2026. That figure applies to the station-wide system, not to the proposed spacesuit device. |
NASA’s account of the ISS milestone explains the distinct station system and its treatment steps: NASA Achieves Water Recovery Milestone on International Space Station. NASA life-support official Jill Williamson said, “We have now demonstrated that we can reach total water recovery of 98%, thanks to the brine processor.” That statement refers to ISS water recovery, not the suit concept.
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What has—and has not—been tested
The 2024 paper says further research and testing are needed. It reports that circuitry for the pumps, sensors, display and control was complete, while other system components were still awaiting completion for testing. The cited work does not show the full system tested in space, demonstrated as an integrated spacesuit or certified for flight.
The authors, including lead author Sofia Etlin, frame the concept as something that “could address these hygiene and hydration concerns.” That is a proposed benefit, not a demonstrated outcome. The paper also discloses that researchers working on the innovation are founding members of Fremen Space, Inc., a Cornell-based startup working to commercialize the technology; that disclosure does not establish a consumer product or flight deployment.
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Why the Dune comparison fits—and where it stops
In Frank Herbert’s Dune, stillsuits conserve and recycle bodily moisture in a harsh desert environment. The researchers explicitly invoke that fictional idea as inspiration for recovering water in a spacesuit. The comparison is useful for picturing the goal, but it is not evidence that the proposed system works or that it matches the fictional suit’s capabilities. For the story behind the reference, see Science News’ coverage of the concept.
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