NASA offers $3M in competition to recycle human poop in space
The space agency's LunaRecycle Challenge calls on members of the public to propose a technological means of recycling astronauts' feces, urine and vomit on the moon and during long-haul space flights.
There are currently 96 bags of human waste that were left behind on the moon by astronauts from the Apollo missions, and the aim of the LunaRecycle Challenge is to prevent adding to the stinky space stash.
The chosen technology will be put to use on future space missions, including hypothetical long-term outposts on the moon.
"NASA is committed to sustainable space exploration. As we prepare for future human space missions, there will be a need to consider how various waste streams, including solid waste, can be minimized -- as well as how waste can be stored, processed, and recycled in a space environment so that little or no waste will need to be returned to earth," NASA said on its website.
NASA is currently reviewing the first round of proposals to decide which ones will move on to the next phase of the competition. The team who comes out on top at the end of the competition will be awarded $3 million.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gizmodo
25 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
Picking a Spot for NASA's Lunar Nuclear Reactor Is Trickier Than It Sounds
In a bold, strategic move for the U.S., acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy announced plans on Aug. 5, 2025, to build a nuclear fission reactor for deployment on the lunar surface in 2030. Doing so would allow the United States to gain a foothold on the Moon by the time China plans to land the first taikonaut, what China calls its astronauts, there by 2030. Apart from the geopolitical importance, there are other reasons why this move is critically important. A source of nuclear energy will be necessary for visiting Mars, because solar energy is weaker there. It could also help establish a lunar base and potentially even a permanent human presence on the Moon, as it delivers consistent power through the cold lunar night. As humans travel out into the solar system, learning to use the local resources is critical for sustaining life off Earth, starting at the nearby Moon. NASA plans to prioritize the fission reactor as power necessary to extract and refine lunar resources. As a geologist who studies human space exploration, I've been mulling over two questions since Duffy's announcement. First, where is the best place to put an initial nuclear reactor on the Moon to set up for future lunar bases? Second, how will NASA protect the reactor from plumes of regolith—or loosely fragmented lunar rocks—kicked up by spacecraft landing near it? These are two key questions the agency will have to answer as it develops this technology. The nuclear reactor will likely form the power supply for the initial U.S.-led Moon base that will support humans who'll stay for ever-increasing lengths of time. To facilitate sustainable human exploration of the Moon, using local resources such as water and oxygen for life support and hydrogen and oxygen to refuel spacecraft can dramatically reduce the amount of material that needs to be brought from Earth, which also reduces cost. In the 1990s, spacecraft orbiting the Moon first observed dark craters called permanently shadowed regions on the lunar north and south poles. Scientists now suspect these craters hold water in the form of ice, a vital resource for countries looking to set up a long-term human presence on the surface. NASA's Artemis campaign aims to return people to the Moon, targeting the lunar south pole to take advantage of the water ice that is present there. In order to be useful, the reactor must be close to accessible, extractable, and refinable water ice deposits. The issue is we currently do not have the detailed information needed to define such a location. The good news is the information can be obtained relatively quickly. Six lunar orbital missions have collected, and in some cases are still collecting, relevant data that can help scientists pinpoint which water ice deposits are worth pursuing. These datasets give indications of where either surface or buried water ice deposits are. It is looking at these datasets in tandem that can indicate water ice 'hot prospects,' which rover missions can investigate and confirm or deny the orbital observations. But this step isn't easy. Luckily, NASA already has its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover mission built, and it has passed all environmental testing. It is currently in storage, awaiting a ride to the Moon. The VIPER mission can be used to investigate on the ground the hottest prospect for water ice identified from orbital data. With enough funding, NASA could probably have this data in a year or two at both the lunar north and south poles. Once NASA knows the best spots to put a reactor, it will then have to figure out how to shield the reactor from spacecraft as they land. As spacecraft approach the Moon's surface, they stir up loose dust and rocks, called regolith. It will sandblast anything close to the landing site, unless the items are placed behind large boulders or beyond the horizon, which is more than 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) away on the Moon. Scientists already know about the effects of landing next to a pre-positioned asset. In 1969, Apollo 12 landed 535 feet (163 meters) away from the robotic Surveyor 3 spacecraft, which showed corrosion on surfaces exposed to the landing plume. The Artemis campaign will have much bigger lunar landers, which will generate larger regolith plumes than Apollo did. So any prepositioned assets will need protection from anything landing close by, or the landing will need to occur beyond the horizon. Until NASA can develop a custom launch and landing pad, using the lunar surface's natural topography or placing important assets behind large boulders could be a temporary solution. However, a pad built just for launching and landing spacecraft will eventually be necessary for any site chosen for this nuclear reactor, as it will take multiple visits to build a lunar base. While the nuclear reactor can supply the power needed to build a pad, this process will require planning and investment. Human space exploration is complicated. But carefully building up assets on the Moon means scientists will eventually be able to do the same thing a lot farther away on Mars. While the devil is in the details, the Moon will help NASA develop the abilities to use local resources and build infrastructure that could allow humans to survive and thrive off Earth in the long term. Clive Neal, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Gizmodo
25 minutes ago
- Gizmodo
This Newly Launched Satellite Just ‘Bloomed' a Record-Breaking Antenna in Orbit
A first-of-its-kind satellite recently launched into orbit to monitor Earth's changing surfaces, detecting movement of the planet's crust down to fractions of an inch. The satellite packed a giant radar antenna, folded like an umbrella, and it just unfurled the massive, drum-shaped structure through an intricate process that brought it to full bloom. The NISAR mission, a joint effort between NASA and the Indian space agency ISRO, launched on July 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India. More than two weeks later, the satellite deployed its antenna reflector, which spans 39 feet (12 meters) wide—the largest ever used on a NASA mission. The team behind the mission began the process on August 9, unfolding the satellite's boom one joint at a time and then firing a series of explosive bolts so that it could be deployed and locked into place in space. 'We were of course eager to see the deployment go well. It's a critical part of the NISAR Earth science mission and has taken years to design, develop, and test to be ready for this big day,' Phil Barela, NISAR project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement. 'Now that we've launched, we are focusing on fine-tuning it to begin delivering transformative science by late fall of this year.' NISAR, short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, is designed to produce a three-dimensional view of Earth in unprecedented detail. The mission is equipped with the most sophisticated radar system for a NASA mission. The antenna reflector plays a key role for NISAR's two synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems, which use the motion of the radar antenna over its targeted area to create high-resolution images. 'Synthetic aperture radar, in principle, works like the lens of a camera, which focuses light to make a sharp image,' Paul Rosen, NISAR's project scientist at JPL, said in a statement. 'The size of the lens, called the aperture, determines the sharpness of the image.' The first radar system, L-band, can see through clouds and forest canopy. The second, an S-band system provided by ISRO, can see through clouds as well but is more sensitive to light vegetation and moisture in snow, according to NASA. The reflector weighs about 142 pounds (64 kilograms) and comes with a cylindrical frame made of 123 composite struts and a gold-plated wire mesh. At the beginning of the process, NISAR's boom began unfolding one joint at a time after being tucked in close to the satellite's body. It took four days for it to become fully extended. On August 15, the team fired a series of small explosive bolts that held the reflector assembly in place to begin what NASA calls the 'bloom' process. Through this process, the antenna unfurled by releasing tension stored in its flexible frame while it was tucked away like an umbrella. The team then activated motors and cables that pulled the antenna to its final form, blooming in its full glory. The reflector is as wide as the length of a school bus, enabling NISAR to image Earth's surface down to pixels about 30 feet (10 meters) across. 'Using special interferometric techniques that compare images over time, NISAR enables researchers and data users to create 3D movies of changes happening on Earth's surface,' Rosen said.
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Bus-Sized Asteroid Approaching Earth, NASA Reports
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. NASA is monitoring a bus-sized asteroid that set to zip past the Earth at some 15,200 miles per hour. The asteroid—"2025 PY1"— will make its closest approach at just 183,000 miles from our planet, according to the space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The space rock is estimated to be somewhere between 25–55 feet in diameter, according to the JPL's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). 2025 PY1 is not the only asteroid that will be in the vicinity of our planet today; NASA is also tracking a plane-sized asteroid known as "2025 PB2," which is around 99 feet in diameter, as well as a house-sized one called "2025 QC," which is about 61 feet in diameter. 2025 PB2 is due to make its closest approach at around 1.34 million miles from the Earth, while 2025 QC will only get to within 3.47 million miles from our planet. An illustration of an asteroid floating near Earth in space, with an inset stock image of a yellow school bus. An illustration of an asteroid floating near Earth in space, with an inset stock image of a yellow school bus. Getty Asteroids are small, rocky masses left over from the formation of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago. They are found concentrated in the main asteroid belt, orbiting around the sun between the paths of Mars and Jupiter. Those asteroids with orbits that bring them within 120 million miles of the sun are calssified as near-Earth objects (NEOs). Most NEOs range in size from around 10 feet to almost 25 miles across. Back in February, CNEOS data showed that one asteroid—"2024 YR4"—had a 3.1 percent chance of impacting Earth in 2032. This was "the highest impact probability NASA has ever recorded for an object of this size or larger," the space agency noted at the time. Following more observations, NASA concluded in June that "the object poses no significant impact risk to Earth in 2032 and beyond"—but the same might not be said for the moon. "The asteroid's probability of impacting the Moon has slightly increased from 3.8 percent to 4.3 percent," the space agency has said, explaining that "in the small chance that the asteroid were to impact, it would not alter the Moon's orbit." According to NASA, "Asteroid 2024 YR4 is now too far away to observe with either space or ground-based telescopes. NASA expects to make further observations when the asteroid's orbit around the Sun brings it back into the vicinity of Earth in 2028." "The majority of near-Earth objects have orbits that don't bring them very close to Earth, and therefore pose no risk of impact," NASA notes. Potentially Hazardous Asteroids However, a small portion of them, known as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), do require closer observation. Measuring more than around 460 feet in size, PHAs have orbits that bring them as close as within 4.6 million miles of the Earth's orbit around the sun. Despite the number of PHAs out in our solar system, none are likely to hit Earth any time soon. "The 'potentially hazardous' designation simply means over many centuries and millennia the asteroid's orbit may evolve into one that has a chance of impacting Earth. We do not assess these long-term, many-century possibilities of impact," CNEOS manager Paul Chodas previously told Newsweek. Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about asteroids? Let us know via science@
