NASA is set to send another batch of astronauts to the Moon, meaning innumerable activities are underway -- including defecating in lunar gravity. While the space agency sure has some other technical stuff going on, astronauts will still need a working toilet, one that's better than the system they currently have now.
On Thursday last week, NASA issued a call asking people for ideas for a space toilet in a new program they call the Lunar Loo Challenge. For the top concept, the winner will take home $35,000.
NASA already has a space toilet in use, but the current system is designed for microgravity only. Microgravity refers to us humans and basically, everything being weightless in space, which NASA has taken care of already. The new toilet design it's asking; however, is something that will work on the surface of the moon. Lunar gravity is about one-sixth of Earth's gravity, so most things move a bit different there.
"While we may know how to make space toilets, we recognize that there are a lot of innovations going in waste management from the no-flush toilet to waterless toilets and more," said Mike Interbartolo, project manager for the Lunar Loo Challenge in the HLS Crew Compartment Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center. "So we wanted to expand our knowledge base by using this challenge to find the unknowns that might be out there.
To win the Lunar Loo challenge, NASA wants the toilet to function in both lunar gravity and microgravity, and it has to adhere to a set of strict guidelines the space agency has decided on. Firstly, the lunar loo must be designed in a way that both men and women can be accommodated, regardless of their size. It must operate with a noise level no louder than 60 decibels (that's about an average bathroom fan), and consumes power not greater than 70 watts. And finally, NASA needs the toilet to occupy a volume no greater than 0.12 meter cubed, with a mass of no greater than 15 kilograms in Earth's gravity.
NASA has been working to streamline and miniaturize its Universal Waste Management System, but it needs the help of people who may be able to provide a better design with the use of a different approach instead of the usual aerospace engineering.
The Lunar Loo challenge is presented in two categories: junior and technical. The deadline for submissions on both categories is on Aug. 17, no later than 5 pm ET.
