2020 NASA class of astronauts could be among those returning to the Moon under the Artemis program
They all shit.
Including astronauts, who from the early space age found ways to do their business in near-zero gravity, from the Apollo missions when waste management was, in NASA’s words, “a plastic bag that stuck to the buttocks to capture feces. ” to the most advanced toilets on the International Space Station that use fan-powered suction systems.
Now, the US space agency calls on the world’s inventors to develop a toilet that works not only in microgravity, but also in lunar gravity on a future lunar landing spacecraft, as part of their plans. to return to the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis mission.
The winning design will receive $ 20,000, with $ 10,000 for second place and $ 5,000 for third. Children under the age of 18 are also encouraged to apply in a “junior” category where the awards are public recognition and NASA themed products.
“This challenge hopes to attract radically new and different approaches to the problem of capture and containment of human waste,” NASA wrote in an overview of the challenge that was released Thursday (www.herox.com/LunarLoo).
The toilet should work in the Moon’s gravity, which is about one-sixth that of Earth’s, so urine and feces will fall, though there will be less plop.
It should not occupy more than 0.12 cubic meters (4.2 cubic feet) and operate with a noise level of less than 60 decibels, roughly equal to a bathroom fan on Earth.
Most important of all, you should be able to collect urine and feces simultaneously, accommodating one liter of the former and 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of the latter, even in the form of diarrhea.
The specifications add that it should be able to handle up to 114 grams of menstrual blood per kit per day and “allow for easy cleaning and maintenance, with a response time of 5 minutes or less between uses.”
The system must also be able to store the waste or dispose of it outside the vehicle.
During the Apollo missions, urine expelled into space “froze in a shower of glistening ice crystals,” author Craig Nelson poetically noted in his book “Rocket Men.” Astronauts also left garbage bags on the surface of the Moon, which NASA has said it hopes to study for signs of life one day.
The competition deadline is August 17, and “bonus points will be awarded to designs that can capture vomit without requiring the crew member to put his head down the toilet.”
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© 2020 AFP
Citation: Boldly: NASA launches Lunar Loo Challenge (2020, June 26) retrieved June 26, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-06-boldly-nasa-lunar-loo.html
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