Putting the first woman and next man on the moon in anticipation of manned journeys to Mars has its challenges. Among many other aspects there’s spacecraft design, finding the right crew, sustenance in space and long-term health concerns as well as short-term concerns like where will astronauts poop?
While astronauts are in the cabin and out of their spacesuits during the Artemis program, they will need a toilet that has all the same capabilities as the ones we use every day. Although space toilets already exist and are in use at the International Space Station (ISS), NASA is looking for a next-generation device that is smaller, more efficient, and capable of working in both microgravity and lunar gravity.
The space agency has now tuned to the global community in an effort to crowdsource a possible design, a contest they have dubbed the “Lunar Loo Challenge.”
“Getting back to the Moon by 2024 is an ambitious goal, and NASA is already working on approaches to miniaturize and streamline the existing toilets,” NASA said in a statement. “But [we] are also inviting ideas from the global community, knowing that they will approach the problem with a mindset different from traditional aerospace engineering.”
The contest has a $35,000 total prize to be split among the teams who submit the top three designs in the Technical category ($20,000 to first place, $10,000 to second, $5,000 to third). NASA has also added a Junior category to the contest that allows innovators under the age of 18 to submit.
“We want to encourage the next generation of space explorers, engineers, and scientists, and we know that students may think about this design problem without the same constraints as adults,” the space agency said.
The prize for winners in the junior category includes public recognition and a piece of NASA-logoed merchandise, as well as “mystery prizes,” that could include a video call with an astronaut.
NASA has provided in-depth design and performance specifications for the toilets. Beyond the need to function in both microgravity and lunar gravity, the toilets need to accommodate urine, fecal matter of all types and menstrual blood, in addition to hygiene products like paper, wipes and gloves. The toilets should be easy to clean and maintain, with a 5-minute or less turnaround time between users. The toilets must also allow for the transfer of collected waste to storage and/or provide for external vehicle disposal.
Size-wise, toilets must have a mass of less than 15 Kg in Earth’s gravity, occupy a volume no greater than 0.12 m3, consume less than 70 Watts of power and accommodate users ranging from 58 to 77" tall and 107 to 290 lbs.
A toilet that operates in lunar gravity would be a step up for the Apollo astronauts of the 60s and 70s who urinated in a tube before disposing of it in space. Solid waste was an even bigger adventure, with NASA once describing the process as “a plastic bag taped to the buttocks to capture feces.” Astronauts also had to ensure their solid waste made it back home for further study.
“This challenge hopes to attract radically new and different approaches to the problem of human waste capture and containment,” NASA said.
NASA has teamed with Herox to crowdsource the challenge. Interested parties can enter here.
Photo credit: Herox/NASA