NASA is a bit lost on how to deal with poop in space, and they need your help.
It may sound awkwardly funny, but on a serious note, how do astronauts poop when they are out in space, considering that there’s no gravity? Before you start to imagine liquid and solid waste floating across the aircraft, stop right there: NASA has a solution – they have space toilets with a suction system to keep things clean.
But the problem lies here: astronauts in spacesuits who undertake long missions have to relive themselves in adult diapers for days. This sounds troublesome and invites higher risks of infection.
Getting rid of poop has becoming even more challenging as astronauts undertake longer missions in space, farther away from their spacecraft than ever before.
So NASA is crowd-sourcing solutions through the “Space Poop Challenge”, using the platform HeroX.
The space agency is offering $30,000 for the three best proposals for creating a device in space suits that can store human waste for six days.
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