NASA is Offering $35K in Prizes To Design Toilet That Will Work on The Moon

There's some big stuff coming in the future as far as space travel goes. I mean, they already put a Tesla up there. Now all we need is somewhere to drop a load.

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NASA has set an ambitious goal of having boots on the moon in 2024. They're looking at putting a crew there for a stay, so they'll need a toilet to, well, you know. Being our earthly toilets are reliant on gravity, the design won't work on the moon where the gravity is 1/6th of ours here. NASA is at a loss, so they've put it out there to everyone to send in their designs, in exchange for compensation, of course.

They're calling it "NASA's Lunar Loo Challenge."

This mission will also include the first woman astronaut to travel to the moon, so the toilet will have to accomodate men and women.

To "help maintain a pristine environment inside the lander that is free of odors and other contaminants," they're looking for a design that conserves water. “Bonus points will be awarded to designs that can capture vomit without requiring the crew member to put his/her head in the toilet."

The design should be able to sustain a crew of two for 14 days and allow the transfer of collected waste to storage or disposal.

There's a few other stipulations:

• Must weigh less than 33 pounds
• Must have a 5 minute or less turnaround time
• Has to use less than 70 watts of power