MARK STATION
ON THREE.
HOW TO HEAR, THIS IS DOUG.
DOUG I GOT YOU.
FIVE BY FIVE.
WE STARTED MAYBE 15 YEARS AGO
IN THIS LONG LINE OF EXPERIMENTS
THAT HAVE BEEN GOING TO SPACE
THAT ARE ALL SMALL SCALE FLUIDS
EXPERIMENTS THAT HAVE REALLY
TAUGHT US A LOT ABOUT MANAGING
FLUIDS IN SPACE WITHOUT ANY
MOVING PARTS, WITHOUT ANY
ELECTRICITY, JUST FLUIDICS.
NOW WE CAN APPLY RESEARCH
RESULTS THAT WE'VE LEARNED
FROM DOING EXPERIMENTS IN
SPACE TO ACTUAL SPACE SYSTEMS
THAT ACTUALLY REQUIRE GRAVITY
TO BE GONE FOR THEM TO WORK.
THAT'S DIFFERENT.
THAT'S A NEW
HORIZON, I WOULD SAY.
OKAY, MARK READY
ON STEP FOUR.
THIS IS AN ENGINEERING
DEMONSTRATION OF A WASTEWATER
PURIFICATION SYSTEM.
SO INSIDE THAT FOAM ARE
ALL THESE WEIRD CHANNELS AND
DIFFERENT WETTING
FOAMS IN THERE
SUCH THAT CAPILLARY FORCES
WICK THE LIQUIDS OUT,
OPENING THE CHANNELS UP.
SO IT'S A CAPILLARY SOLUTION
TO AN ENGINEERING PROBLEM
OF MANAGING BRINE AND
CONTAMINATED WATER STREAMS.
THAT SOUNDS REALLY,
REALLY INTERESTING
AND FRANKLY, REALLY COOL.
I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT IT DOES.
WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO DO IS
YOU'RE GOING TO OPEN THAT LITTLE
VALVE OUT OF THE DRINK BAG, AND
YOU'RE GOING TO PRIME THE TUBE.
THEN YOU'RE GOING TO SQUEEZE
THAT BAG, THE DRINK BAG,
AND THEN KIND OF IN ABOUT 15
SECONDS FILL THE ENTIRE FOAM
WITH THE CONTENTS OF THE BAG.
THE INTERIOR PIECE OF THAT
FOAM IS HIGHLY WETTING.
SO IT WANTS TO
SUCK UP THAT WATER.
BUT THEN THERE
ARE PIECES ON THE OUTSIDE
THAT ARE HYDROPHOBIC.
SO
IT DOESN'T WANT THE WATER
TO PENETRATE THROUGH.
SO HOW CAN WE MIX THAT UP?
WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?
WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?
BECAUSE ULTIMATELY THIS PIECE OF
TECHNOLOGY, EVEN THOUGH IT'S SO
SIMPLE AS A PIECE OF FOAM, IT CAN
POTENTIALLY DO SO MANY THINGS.
IF YOU WATCH THE VIDEOS,
YOU SEE IT, YOU'RE GOING
TO THINK IT'S DULL.
AND WHAT ARE THESE GOOFS DOING?
YOU'RE GOING TO SAY THAT,
BUT BASICALLY WHAT IT IS
IS IT'S A DYED LIQUID.
IT'S ACTUALLY RED FRUIT
PUNCH THAT WE USE, WHICH
IS A SIMULANT FOR URINE.
YOU LIKE THE BACKLIGHT
VIEW?
YEAH.
WE'RE GEEKING OUT OVER THAT
IT GIVES US THE COMPLETE
VIEW OF
THIS
WHOLE THING. IT’S NICE.
THAT'S PRETTY COOL.
SO THE PURPOSE OF THIS EXPERIMENT
IS TO SEE HOW WELL DOES THE FOAM
HOLD THE LIQUID IN MICROGRAVITY.
AND IF WE COMPLETELY AGITATE
IT AND REALLY PUT THIS PIECE
OF EQUIPMENT THROUGH THE
RINGER, HOW WELL DOES IT
BOUNCE BACK.
HONESTLY, THE MOST SURPRISING
THING THAT'S COME OUT OF
IT IS HOW SIMPLE WE CAN
MAKE THIS TECHNOLOGY.
MAYBE THE FOAM PROJECT IS
GOING TO ENABLE A BACKUP SYSTEM
FOR THE TOILETS, OR MAYBE IT'S
GOING TO BE A NEW WASTEWATER
PROCESSING SYSTEM ALTOGETHER.
AND THAT'S JUST
THE FUTURE.
IT'S JUST, I MEAN, IT FEELS LIKE
ANYTHING IS REALLY POSSIBLE.
WE ARE VERY HOPEFUL THAT OUR
WORK, WHICH STARTED OUT IN
FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH AND HAS
TURNED MORE AND MORE APPLIED,
CAN ACTUALLY GET TO THE
POINT WHERE IT'S DELIVERING
ON EQUIPMENT, EQUIPMENT THAT
FUNCTIONS WITHOUT MOVING PARTS
OR A MINIMUM OF MOVING PARTS
WITHOUT POWER, WITHOUT NOISE.
YOU'D LOVE IT TO HAVE A SYSTEM
THAT JUST WORKS PASSIVELY BY
ITS SHAPE AND WHETHER IT'S ON
THE MOON OR IN ORBIT AROUND
THE MOON OR ON WAY TO MARS,
WE'D LOVE TO CONTRIBUTE IN THAT
WAY AND IN THE WAY THAT MAKES
OTHERS ABLE TO DO THAT TOO.
SO BY PUBLISHING THE DESIGN
LAWS, BY THE DESIGN EXPERIENCE,
BY THE EXPERIMENT EXPERIENCE,
WE'D LOVE TO DO THAT TOO.
I
THINK IT'S JUST COOL.
IT'S SO SIMPLE.
AND IT'S SO COOL.
