The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched a contest which invites anyone to create a bath for their next lunar mission, scheduled for 2024 under their Artemis program.
For its part, the US space agency released the rules of the contest in HeroX, a platform where organizations can use crowdsourcing (a distributed open collaboration) in order to find innovative solutions.
Requirements to participate in NASA
- Make the device design smaller than it already exists
- Make it more efficient
- That it is capable of operating in both microgravity and lunar gravity
Although the International Space Station already has special toilets for astronauts, the new manned mission to the Moon It needs a special design for it to work in lunar gravity.
What they are looking for from NASA are the idea for a next generation device that is smaller, more efficient and capable of operating in both microgravity and lunar gravity.
Through this contest, the agency aims to find new designs for the general public that can reduce the mass of the latest-generation bathrooms to more than half, that is, from 54 to 31 kilos. They aspire to reduce the volume of the toilet by 70%, from 0.17 to 0.12 cubic meters.
Current toilet used on the International Space Station
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The standard home toilet weighs between 30 and 60 kilos, but the complexity of operating in low-gravity environments requires more components.
The agency offers three awards in this competition that seeks a different alternative to traditional aerospace engineering.
What are NASA’s awards for creating a lunar toilet?
- The first place will receive a sum of 20 thousand dollars
- Second place will collect a total sum of $ 10,000
- Third place will take about $ 5,000
It should be mentioned that the project submission deadline is August 17 and the winner will be announced on September 30.
