Johnson Space Center, Houston NASA Gives Space Station Crew 'Go'
to Drink Recycled Water HOUSTON -- NASA's Mission Control gave
the Expedition 19 astronaut crew aboard the International Space
Station a "go" to drink water that the station's new recycling
system has purified. Mission Control radioed the news to the
crew Wednesday, following a report from the Water Recovery
System team that station program managers approved. The decision
is an important milestone in the development of the station's
environmental and life support systems, which will begin
supporting six-person crews at the end of May. Expedition 19
Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and
Koichi Wakata celebrated the decision with a toast in the
Destiny laboratory. "This has been the stuff of science fiction.
Everybody's talked about recycling water in a closed loop
system, but nobody's ever done it before. Here we are today with
the first round of recycled water," said Barratt. "We're really
happy for this day and for the