Nasa pooping in space challenge?!

[Arugela]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/29/pooping-in-deep-space-has-nasa-stumped-the-space-poop-challenge-is-your-way-to-help/?utm_term=.ef047545870a

 

Just saw this on a websearch.... I didn't read much of it, but it's interesting sounding. have they considered a long term compost system and grow some trees/plants to help with the in space atmosphere. Obviously needs containers for the roots don't get out or damage the ship long term. Plants can be tricky things.

 

NVM, it's for the space suit only. Unless the suit is or can be hooked up by a tube to get it back to a compost area... If not I stand by my idea of composting and growing a tree. But inside the suit! Call it "The crappy terrarium suit!"

Thinking about it, you might actually be able to find plants that can deal with the smell and other issues... And literally as fast as you can crap it out. Basically, why engineer something when it's already been done. Just need to find the right plants.

Hell, if you did it correctly you could have long term survival suits for really bad situations. A little "food," or something that can at least minimally sustain you, recycled water, recycled air, etc. It's always possible. The difficulty would be more with remaining knowledge of plants to find correct specimens that it would be if appropriate plants exist.

Edited December 1, 2016 by Arugela

[wumpus]

Chia pet? [for those who didn't live during the era/area where these ads were broadcast, it was a plant+"flower pot" such that the plant assumed the shape of the pot.]

I'm guessing the Russians don't have a solution either.  I remember reading during the cold war how the Russians loudly broadcast all of NASA's failures, except the "space toilet".  As bad as it was (NASA kept insisting that more "potty training" astronauts would fix the issues), the assumption was that the Russians were limited to classic "go in bags" and were having long term issues even with that.

[AeroGav]

I have just seen the Scott Manley video on this subject.

In space, nobody can hear you scream,  but this is far more terrifying.

I'm hoping such an issue would never rear it's ugly head,  because if your space station depressurized forcing you to wear a suit for 7 days, you're not going to be eating too many prunes, wholemeal bagels and other items so the whole digestive system is pretty much going to grind to a halt.  Dissolve some anti diarrhea medication in the helmet's drinking water and deal with the impacted colon on the ground.

 But let's say "the sum of all our fears" is realized, is there any technical solution?

Perhaps they could arrange the space suit with a seal around the waist, and depressurize the area of interest.  With an airlock to allow the escape of "that we do not speak of".

The seal should be relatively easy, since human flesh expands beyond it's normal volume in the vacuum of space, though i suppose this means you should don the suit with a naked midriff.  Sorry, no T shirts.

Then there is the problem of achieving separation from the undocked matter without the aid of gravity.  I suppose your options are a) giving the suit an RCS system so you can accelerate prograde and normal, creating temporary "gravity".  Or a good strong reaction wheel system to spin the astronaut very fast on his axis will have much the same effect, though it might add to the stress of an already challenging situation.

On the up side,  the pressure differential is going to make the act significantly easier to complete.  In fact, the danger might be more in terms of pushing too hard.   "Self disassembly" is a term that should only ever apply to rockets.

 

Edited December 2, 2016 by AeroGav

[Scotius]

Speaking about "un - docked matter" - i wonder from how far away a faint ring of ammonia and carbon produced by humans in space is detectable? I mean, it's been over 50 years of space exploration going on - there had to be tons of...stuff  circling our blue mudball.

[Nikolai]

59 minutes ago, Scotius said:

Speaking about "un - docked matter" - i wonder from how far away a faint ring of ammonia and carbon produced by humans in space is detectable? I mean, it's been over 50 years of space exploration going on - there had to be tons of...stuff  circling our blue mudball.

Except that all that stuff is small, and orbits of small things decay rather quickly.  (The more surface area you have in proportion to your mass, the faster your orbit will decay... and small things have a higher proportion.)

[Jonfliesgoats]

A spool of sponges that gets mechanically scraped/wringer into a separate tank?  I am sure we can find a way to over-engineer a space diaper.

[_Augustus_]

Tiny vacuums and valves?

[Brotoro]

Tiny robots that scoop, scrape, and hose up all the material ejected into the middle sealed-off area of the suit.