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On Friday night, as a distracted world read about President Donald Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis, a $ 23 million space toilet was launched into space.
This toilet, which astronauts and cosmonauts will test on the space station for three years, will eventually be the latrine that NASA astronauts will use on missions to the moon and beyond. It’s expensive because the machine, called the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), is part of a system that recycles urine into drinking water.
“And when it comes to our urine on ISS, today’s coffee is tomorrow’s coffee!” NASA astronaut Jessica Meir said in a press release about the space toilet.
The toilet was launched into space Friday from Wallops Island, Virginia, on an Antares rocket, along with about 8,000 pounds of supplies, including new vegetable crops and research on cancer treatment.
The new space bathroom of the space station.
It is essential that life support systems in space missions, such as toilets, can regenerate vital supplies. A round-trip mission to Mars, NASA noted, will have no “opportunity to complete the water supply.” The space station is the only place where NASA can test a water reclamation space toilet.
The funnel, seen above, captures urine, while the seat captures “bowel movements” (poop). Foot restraints prevent astronauts from “floating away.”
Unlike urine, the new space toilet will not recycle poop water. Solid waste is stored in a fecal storage container. Most of these boats are placed on a cargo ship that is sent to burn in the atmosphere, much like meteors (“shooting stars”), which soar romantically through the night sky.
So when you wish for your next shooting star … be careful.
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