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from the really-takes-the-piss?-or-a-load-of-crap? dept.
NASA wants you to design a space toilet for missions to the moon:
NASA issued a call on Thursday asking for ideas for the ultimate space toilet with its Lunar Loo Challenge. The winner of the space toilet challenge could win $35,000 (approximately £28,000, A$51,000) for the top concept.
Although space toilets are already in use (the International Space Station is scheduled to get an upgrade soon), they are designed for microgravity only. Microgravity is when there's weightlessness in space, and NASA's toilet tech has taken care of that problem already. But the new toilets need to be able to work in lunar gravity as well. Lunar gravity is approximately one-sixth of Earth's gravity, so our waste moves a little differently on the moon.
In addition to having the new toilet function in both microgravity and lunar gravity, it has to adhere to a set of strict specifications. It must have a mass of less than 15 kilograms in Earth's gravity, occupy a volume no greater than 0.12 meter cubed, consume less than 70 watts of power, operate with a noise level less than 60 decibels (no louder than an average bathroom fan) and accommodate both female and male users of different shapes and sizes.
[...] "We are looking forward to seeing what the crowdsourcing community can come up with that is out-of-the-box and bring different perspectives for what is needed for a toilet."
[...] "Think about the needs for the toilet and don't worry about it being for a spacecraft," Interbartolo added. "Break it down to the base functions needed in terms of handling male/female urine, fecal, menses, and how you could do it in a compact and low mass way for an easy-to-use system. These concepts are similar for campers, boats, remote and undeveloped locations."
This challenge has two categories: Technical and Junior. Submissions to both categories are due no later than 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on Aug. 17.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @01:59PM (1 child)
no effing clue. never pooped in space and wondered if it might be a better toilet if ...
anyways, report from earth, i can say that diet (what you put in at the top) seems to have a influence on what comes out the other end.
not to sound ... disturbing, but my cat and dog produce a firm, solid, yet wet "sausages", which can be moved around (moved AWAY!) with grill tweezers.
for me, it's not as consistant. about 5% of the time the first wipe yields zero steaks (aka "5 star poop"). then there's the 5% case where it runs in all directions (mostly after too much beer and/or eating lazy food (food from people that cook for a living (and are in debt?))).
i assume (?) our ancestors pooped like cats and dogs and made sausages or did everybody back then smell of "badly wiped ass"?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 27 2020, @02:42PM
It's all about the fiber. Most of out ancestors probably had nice solid shits (when they weren't dying of dysentery or something), because they were banned from hunting in the fuedal lord's forest and couldn't afford to eat meat.