NASA launched this Thursday a call for projects for the design of… lunar toilets. If astronauts can already urinate and defecate when they float in space, the American space agency is looking for smaller concepts, more efficient and adapted to the low gravity of the Moon for its future missions on the natural satellite of Earth.
"This challenge hopes to spark radically new and different approaches to the problem of collecting and storing human waste," writes NASA. The latter will grant three prizes (20,000, 10,000 and 5,000 dollars) to the most creative inventors for a system to be installed in the landing gear which will bring two astronauts to the Moon by 2024, according to the official calendar. The deadline for submitting your project is August 17.
Very precise specifications
A set of specifications is to be observed: the toilets must be used by men and women, operate both on the Moon (where gravity is one sixth of Earth's gravity) and in microgravity (in space), occupy less than 0.12 cubic meter, and make no more noise than a bathroom ventilation, that is to say 60 decibels.
Above all, they must allow simultaneous defecation and urination and be able to receive one liter of urine and 500 grams of faeces (including diarrhea) per event and 114 grams per day of menstruation. They must be cleanable in five minutes, contain odors and drops in the cabin, necessarily narrow, of the vehicle. Finally, the waste must be able to be stored or evacuated outside. Another detail for those who would be interested: "bonus points will be granted to designs capable of collecting vomiting without forcing the crew member to put their head in the toilet".
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