Out-of-the-box lunar loos

Proper positioning and precision landings are the crux of any space mission, especially lunar landings, as we all know. And those principles apply not only to lunar landers but also lunar loos. A small deviation this way or that can cause anything from an embarrassment to a catastrophe. Little wonder then that apart from spending billions on making the perfect receptacles for the astronauts themselves for the Artemis manned lunar mission in 2024, there is also equally intense activity afoot at NASA for receptacles for their excretions too. However, it is intriguing that days after news of the premier space agency having developed a $23 million ‘Universal Waste Management System’ — a hi-tech porta-potty — to be tested on the International Space Station, it has announced a contest for a lunar loo too.

While ‘out of the box’ may not be the appropriate phrase in the context of toilets, the $35,000 in prize money for the open contest is apparently to tap ideas beyond traditional aerospace engineering concepts as the toilet will have to function in the microgravity of space as well as lunar gravity, which is one-sixth of what we experience on Earth.

Given that the first lot of astronauts had to make do with little more than plastic bags taped on their posteriors, this effort being made to ease their ablutions now is truly commendable.