NASA's $23 Million Space Toilet

Going to space and staying there is a very difficult matter. Space agencies that want to go to the Moon and Mars, and astronauts who will go on this long journey your most basic needs It needs to find solutions to fix it.

NASA set out to meet one of these needs and launched the International Space Station. Sending a brand new toilet. The new space toilet will be launched tomorrow at around 5 am Türkiye time with a special cargo spacecraft from Wallops Flight Facility.

23 million dollar toilet from NASA

Universal Waste Management System (Universal Waste Management System) called toilet, worth $23 million. Although the new toilet is 65% smaller and 40% lighter than the toilet currently used on the International Space Station, it is designed for larger crews.

NASA designed the toilet in conjunction with the upcoming Artemis mission. Astronauts on the space station will return to the space agency after testing the toilet. With the improvements it will implement after the feedback received from NASA, 10-day journey to the Moon It will be used in the Orion spacecraft.

Since NASA aims to send the first female astronaut to the Moon, this toilet will also be made suitable for women's use. There will be a urine funnel in the toilet. Here the urine will be filtered, processed and for later use will be converted into water.

How does the process work?

Its urine recycling function helps reduce the need to send water into space. This situation becomes even more important, especially during trips to and from Mars, which will last 2 years. NASA recommends at least urination before going to Mars. Recycle 98% aims. So, how does the process work?

Of course, it is not possible to say that it is similar to the world. Since there is no gravity on the space station, astronauts use a vacuum with a fan and air flow to draw urine from the body. But when things get bigger, things get more complicated. Astronauts sitting on top of a silver container that vacuums up waste He needs to hit a small target.

Odor control is provided better in the new toilet sent to the station. Shortly after the cover is removed the air begins to vacuum. There are also new handles, making it easier for astronauts to maintain their positions in a zero-gravity environment. The feces are sealed in a plastic bag and burned as they re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. However, some samples are kept to evaluate the health of astronauts.