NASA will pay you to design a space bath that works in lunar gravity

If you could create a bathroom worthy of space travel, what would it be like? NASA is preparing to return to the moon in 2024 and needs help developing a new way for astronauts to conduct business on their journeys to the lunar surface and back.

NASA issued a call Thursday asking for ideas for the last space bath with the Lunar Loo Challenge. The winner of the space bath challenge could win $ 35,000 (approximately £ 28,000, A $ 51,000) for the superior concept.

Although space toilets are already in use (the The International Space Station is slated to get an update soon), they are designed for microgravity only. Microgravity is when there is weightlessness in space, and NASA toilet technology has already addressed that problem. But the new baths must also be able to function in lunar gravity. Lunar gravity is about one-sixth of Earth’s gravity, so our debris moves a little differently on the moon.

In addition to having the new lunar gravity and microgravity toilet function, it must meet a set of strict specifications. It must have a mass of less than 15 kilograms in Earth’s gravity, occupy a volume not greater than 0.12 meters in cubes, consume less than 70 watts of power, operate with a noise level of less than 60 decibels (no more taller than an average bathroom fan) and accommodate female and male users of different shapes and sizes.

“While we may know how to make space toilets, we recognize that there are many innovations in waste management, from flush toilets to waterless toilets and more,” said Mike Interbartolo, project manager for the Lunar Loo Challenge at the HLS Crew Compartment. Office at NASA Johnson Space Center. “So we wanted to expand our knowledge base by using this challenge to find the unknowns that might exist.

“We are eager to see what the crowdsourcing community can bring immediately and bring different perspectives of what it takes for a toilet.”

NASA is working on designs to miniaturize and rationalize existing toilets, the so-called “Universal Waste Management System,” but it needs ideas from people who can solve the problem using new and different approaches instead of traditional aerospace engineering.

“Think about the needs of the toilet and don’t worry about being a spaceship,” added Interbartolo. “Break it down into the basic functions needed in terms of urine, stool, male / female menstruation management, and how you could do it compactly and low-mass for an easy-to-use system. These concepts are similar for campers, boats, places remote and underdeveloped. “

This challenge has two categories: technical and junior. Submissions to both categories must be submitted no later than 5 pm ET / 2 pm PT on August 17.

Bathrooms are not your thing? In April, NASA solicited ideas for miniaturized loads send the moon aboard Roomba-sized rovers in their “Honey, I shrunk NASA payload” challenge.