Article Posted on : - May 22, 2009

NASA astronaut's on International Space Station (ISS). A file photo.

HOUSTON (BNS): NASA astronaut on International Space Station (ISS) drink's water that had been recycled from their urine, sweat and water that condenses from exhaled air.

After conducting a series of test by NASA experts on 20 liters of recycled water brought back to Earth by several space shuttle expeditions.

"The taste is great," ISS crew Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Koichi Wakata celebrated the decision with a toast.

"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," NASA said.

"We are really happy for this day and for the team that put this together. This is the kind of technology that will get us to the moon and further," the U.S. space agency quoted Mike Barratt as saying.

Space shuttle Endeavour STS-126 mission brought up the Water Recovery System to the space station in November 2008.

"Space station crews will monitor the purity of the recycled water with on-board equipment and periodically send down samples for testing on Earth," NASA said.