NASA's new $23 million space toilet is ready for launch

[left-of-center2012]

NASA is launching a new space toilet to the International Space Station next week for astronauts to test out before it’s used on future missions to the moon or Mars.

The $23 million toilet system, known as the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), is 65% smaller and 40% lighter than the toilet currently in use on the space station, and can support larger crews. The toilet will launch to the space station aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo capsule on Sept. 29, as part of a routine resupply mission.

Once on the space station, astronauts will test how the new toilet performs in the microgravity environment on the station. The system will be installed adjacent to the current toilet in Node 3 of the space station, NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Logistics Reduction project manager Melissa McKinley said during a news conference Thursday (Sept. 24).

"The toilet was designed for exploration and it builds on previous spaceflight toilet design," McKinley said during the press conference. "The big key to the exploration piece of the design is looking to optimize mass volume and power usage, which are all very important components of a spacecraft design."

The UWMS measures roughly 28 inches (71 centimeters) tall, which is comparable to the compact toilets used on campers.

https://www.space.com/nasa-space-toilet-ready-for-launch

(The seat does not look comfortable)

[crickets]

1. Ah, Howard Wolowitz, we hardly knew ye.

On a more serious note, here's hoping it works well. Going to the bathroom in space sounds really unfun.

[Roland99]

2. Heh. +1

[soothsayer]

5. Gravity is our friend

[left-of-center2012]

7. ...

[crickets]

12. "What is that?" "Meatloaf."

[Blue_true]

9. Crews are in regular clothes normally. They only get into their spacesuits

if there is an emergency, or when they are departing to return to Earth.

So going to the restroom is not such a big deal, they simply pull down the civvies like we do and get busy. That is where to comparison ends, they crap or pee into a vacuum chamber so that their waste is not floating around with them.

[crickets]

13. True. It's the "into a vacuum chamber" that sounds challenging.

I'm sure seasoned crew members are used to it.

[Blue_true]

14. Given the alternative, I would get used to it fast. nt

[crickets]

15. Agreed! nt

[doc03]

3. So the old discarded one will be portajohn

space junk orbiting the earth.

[Sneederbunk]

4. Includes $100,000 rolls of toilet paper.

[yonder]

6. "optimize mass volume and power usage"

I won't ask.

[Blue_true]

8. Awesome toilet if one is constipated. Nothing like a vacuum to clear things up.

The seat could have been designed better though.

[left-of-center2012]

10. So ...

the toilet sucks !

[Blue_true]

11. Literally, it does.

But ask yourself one question. Would you want your turds and other people’s turds floating around you? I know what my answer to that is.

[left-of-center2012]

16. I assume the current toilet also takes care of that