2019-06-202019-06-202019-07-07ICES_2019_224https://hdl.handle.net/2346/84446Rawand Rasheed, Portland State University (PSU), USAMark Weislogel, Portland State University (PSU), USAICES511: Reliability for Space Based SystemsThe 49th International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 07 July 2019 through 11 July 2019.Nearly all water processing equipment aboard spacecraft is to a large extent controlled by capillary forces arising from substrate wetting conditions. Superhydrophobic wetting conditions provide an essentially passive means to keep water away from certain substrates providing a level of no-moving-parts phase separation and control. This work presents a host of non-wetting aqueous microgravity capillary fluidics phenomena arising from interactions with easily fabricated superhydrophobic substrates. The value of such phenomena for potential life support applications aboard spacecraft is clear, especially for substrate properties that are thermally robust, corrosion resistant, and self-cleaning for both long- and short-term applications. Large length scale low-g demonstrations of the phenomena are provided in HD video format for the extensive drop tower tests conducted. The broader crosscutting impacts to numerous fluids processing operations for life support are discussed. Current practical applications addressed in light of superhydrophobicity include urine-processing, water recovery, fire safety, and others.application/pdfengCapillaryFluidicsSuperhydrophobicFireSuppressionMicrobialGrowthRobustSurfacesCorrosionResistantThermallyStablePresentations