The space agency searches for a cosmic toilet that runs on microgravity and lunar gravity.
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June
29, 2020
3 min read
This story originally appeared on PCMag
It is easy to forget that despite sending 240 astronauts to the International Space Station For two decades, humans have not set foot on the Moon since December 1972. Now, while the NASA preparing to send the first woman and next man on Earth’s satellite by 2024, there are a few basic needs that must be met, starting with a working toilet.
The NASA is asking people from all over the world to help design a compact toilet that can be used in microgravity and lunar gravity. The appropriately named Lunar Loo Challenge kicked off this week, inviting anyone to come up with a concept that can be adapted for use on NASA’s Artemis lunar spacecraft. But, you may wonder rightly, are there no space baths? After all, people on the ISS must urinate and defecate in somewhere. And while the Space Station does have a “cosmic latrine” (there are numerous YouTube video tours), it is designed to work only in microgravity.
“NASA’s Human Landing System Program is looking for a next-generation device that is smaller, more efficient and,” the agency explained, “capable of working in both microgravity and lunar gravity.” The first, the condition in which people or objects appear to be weightless, is different from the gravity of the Moon’s surface and therefore requires different ways of eliminating waste.
“As long as astronauts are in the cabin and out of their space suits, they will need a toilet that has the same capabilities as Earth’s,” according to a NASA press release announcing the Lunar Loo Challenge.
“Returning to the Moon by 2024 is an ambitious goal, and NASA is already working on approaches to miniaturize and rationalize existing toilets,” says the Challenge page. “But they are also inviting ideas from the global community, knowing that they will approach the problem with a different mindset from traditional aerospace engineering. This challenge hopes to attract radically new and different approaches to the problem of capture and containment of human waste.”
Do you think you can solve this puzzle? Enter your idea online to have a chance to win a share of the $ 35,000 prize pool (shared among the teams that send the three best designs in the Technical category). Creatives under the age of 18 can enter the Junior category for a public recognition opportunity and an official NASA merchandise item. The competition closes on August 17, 2020.
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