From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article ,   
   Fred J. McCall  wrote:   
   >:You can accept some small water losses, because human metabolism converts   
   >:food to CO2 and water...   
   >   
   >In addition to this, if you're using fuel cells for some of your   
   >power, you're producing water there as well.  You do have to refuel   
   >those cells, but then the mass you're lifting is doing 'double duty'.   
      
   A spacecraft that's up there long enough to be doing water recycling is   
   *probably* going to be solar-powered; fuel-cell reactants simply weigh too   
   much.  Gemini and Apollo used fuel cells mostly because their basic design   
   was fixed at a time when solar arrays were still in their infancy.  (Note   
   that Soyuz, designed only a few years later, uses solar power.)   
   --   
   "Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer   
                                   -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)