If you’re super water conscious – as we should all be in Cape Town – this video will hurt your feelings.

As part of the preparations for its new rocket, the Space Launch System, NASA tested the water deluge system.

The deluge system is designed to reduce heat and energy generated after a rocket launch, reports USA Today.

The rocket that’s in the works to be launched will be used in a series of missions to the moon and…wait for it…Mars.

The system is designed to carry larger payloads and generate more energy, which could open the door to deep space missions “including robotic scientific missions to places like Mars, Saturn and Jupiter,” said NASA.

Exploration Mission-1, the first mission to use the Space Launch System, will serve as a test for the system and the new Orion spacecraft, built to carry astronaut crews on deep space missions. It is expected to launch in June 2020.

In the meantime, watch the water:

That’s 450 000 gallons (1,7 million litres), or 24 285 days of water for one person under level five water restrictions in Cape Town.

Ouch.

[source:usatoday]