Emergency: no water on board

A Drabble is a self-contained work of micro-fiction crafted in precisely 100 words.

The aim of a Drabble is to master brevity, challenging the writer to choose words carefully.

A Drabble must be a complete tale, with a beginning, middle, and a clear ending.

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"What do you mean there is no water?"

"What do you think I mean? Do you want me to spell it out for you? There-is-no-water."

Onboard the spaceship there was a Urine Processor Assembly. The NASA system recovered water from urine using vaccum destilation making safe drinking water.

There was only one problem, to produce new water, urine had to enter the recycling system; to produce urine they had to drink water first as soon as the rocket took off.

The rocket autonomously landed on the Mars colony. The welcoming robot read no signs of life onboard.

©Susan Fourtané 2024 | All Rights Reserved

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Author's notes: On the tech described in this story

Recovering water from urine is a process that is critical to supporting larger crews for extended missions aboard the International Space Station. On International Space Station (ISS), the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) converts human urine and flush water into potable water.

The Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) uses Vapor Compression Distillation (VCD) technology to reclaim water from pre-treated urine. This water is further processed by the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) to potable quality standards for use on the International Space Station (ISS). NASA has developed this technology over the last 25 to 30 years. (Source: NASA)