FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – The deadline is coming up for NASA’s ‘Space Poop Challenge’ – you could win $30,000 if you have the right design.
NASA looks to the future with missions in deep space, but it’s also looking for a way for astronauts to relieve themselves while remaining in their space suits.
The agency is offering a $30,000 prize in their “Space Poop Challenge” if someone can create a system inside a space suit “that routes and collects human waste away from the body, hands-free, for fully suited astronauts.”
There are conditions – and the system needs to take no more than five minutes to set up – in an emergency, an astronaut might be forced to jump quickly into their suit.
The challenge may seem odd, but NASA says a solution “could be the difference between life and death.”
Inventors have until December 20th, 2016 to submit their entries.
NASA plans to test the top designs, next year.
For info: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/space-poop-challenge
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