Competition to source a system that routes and collects human waste away from the body, hands-free, for fully suited astronauts.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) seeks proposed solutions for urine, fecal and menstrual management systems to be used in the crew’s launch and entry suits over a continuous duration of up to 144 hours. An in-suit waste management system would be beneficial for contingency scenarios or for any long duration tasks.
Waste management systems should address fecal, urine, and/or menstrual waste management in a pressurized survival suit environment for six days while protecting the safety and health of crew members. Solutions should provide for urine collection of up to 1L per day per crew member, for a total of 6 days. Fecal collection rates should be targeted for 75 grams of fecal mass and 75 mL fecal volume per crewmember per day for a total of 6 days duration. Menstrual collection systems should handle up to 80 mL over 6 days.
NASA will award the Solutions it judges to be the most promising for implementation and use on missions in the next three or four years. NASA will consider collaborating with winners and/or other competitors, subject to NASA rules and regulations for contract procurement.
The challenge closes on December 20, 2016. Think you’ve got what it takes to help future space explorers do their business? Check out the video below and visit the Space Poop Challenge page to submit your ideas!
Sponsoring/Partner Organizations: NASA
Benefits of Participation/Awards Available: $30,000
Open Date: October 11, 2016 Submissions Open
Close Date: December 20, 2016 Submission Deadline
For more information: www.herox.com/SpacePoop