NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space
Scattered across the Moon's surface are 96 bags of human waste, including feces, urine, and vomit, left behind by Apollo astronauts to reduce their spacecraft's weight for the return journey.
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(Photo credit: Getty Images)
April 9 (UPI) -- NASA is offering $3 million to anyone who proposes technology to solve an unusual problem: recycling feces and other human waste in space.
The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.
In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP)
There are currently 96 bags of human waste that were left behind on the moon by astronauts from the Apollo missions, and the aim of the LunaRecycle Challenge is to prevent adding to the stinky space stash.
The chosen technology will be put to use on future space missions, including hypothetical long-term outposts on the moon.
What amenities can space travelers expect in this lunar town?
"NASA is committed to sustainable space exploration. As we prepare for future human space missions, there will be a need to consider how various waste streams, including solid waste, can be minimized -- as well as how waste can be stored, processed, and recycled in a space environment so that little or no waste will need to be returned to earth," NASA said on its website.
NASA is currently reviewing the first round of proposals to decide which ones will move on to the next phase of the competition. The team who comes out on top at the end of the competition will be awarded $3 million.
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