Astronauts on board the International Space Station told Mission Control in Houston, Texas that the urine recycler which the space shuttle Endeavor delivered several days ago, has passed their test Tuesday morning.

And Mission Control was just happy with the news, they "will be dancing later."

Astronauts on board the ISS had been trying to get the urine processor, a section of the $154 million water recycling system that Endeavored delivered to the space station, since Friday. Another test is planned Tuesday night.

However, a separate testing will be conducted back on Earth on samples of processed urine, sweat and condensation before astronauts can start drinking purified water which is scheduled next year.

The water regeneration machine is crucial to the operation inside the space station, especially with the planned expansion of its crew from the current three to six in 2009.

The multi-million system, distils, filters, ionizes and oxidizes wastewater, including urine, into fresh drinking water.

Nasa has decided to invest in the water recycling gear because the space shuttles are scheduled to retire in two years.

Currently, each shuttle missions brings bagged water to the space station for storage.

With the retirement of the space shuttles, these water delivery system will go away.