Astronauts can urinate and defecate when floating in space, but NASA, which is looking for smaller, more efficient and low-gravity designs on the Moon for its future missions there, launched a call for proposals Thursday.
“This challenge hopes to generate radically new and different approaches to the problem of collection and storage of human waste,” the US space agency wrote in the technical language it normally uses.
Apollo astronauts used a bag (at least five remain on the Moon, according to official records), and the toilets on the International Space Station now run on pipes and non-gravity suction systems.
NASA will award three prizes ($ 20,000, $ 10,000, and $ 5,000) to the most creative inventors of a system to be installed in the lunar lander that will take two astronauts back to the Moon in 2024, according to the official calendar. Three companies compete to build the lunar lander.
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Requirements
The established specifications indicate that the toilets must be used for men and women, operate on the Moon (where gravity is one-sixth of the Earth) and in microgravity in space, and will also have to occupy less than 0.12 cubic meters, and make no more noise than a bathroom fan (60 decibels).
Most importantly, they must allow simultaneous defecation and urination, and have the ability to receive one liter of urine and 500 grams of feces (including diarrhea) per event, as well as 114 grams per day of menstruation. They must be able to be cleaned in five minutes, and must contain odors and drops in the narrow interior of the vehicle.
The waste must be able to be stored or evacuated outdoors. For Apollo, urine was released into space, where it “immediately turned into a shower of bright crystals,” according to author Craig Nelson.
Another detail for those interested (with a deadline of August 17): “Bonuses will be given to designs that allow vomiting to be collected without forcing the crew member to stick his head in the toilets.”
* With information from AFP.
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