NASA Tests New $23 Million Titanium Space Toilet (apnews.com) 49
NASA's first new space potty in decades -- a $23 million titanium toilet better suited for women -- is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station before eventually flying to the moon. The Associated Press reports: Barely 100 pounds (45 kilograms) and just 28 inches (71 centimeters) tall, the new toilet is roughly half as big as the two Russian-built ones at the space station. It's more camper-size to fit into the NASA Orion capsules that will carry astronauts to the moon in a few years. Station residents will test it out for a few months. If the shakedown goes well, the toilet will be open for regular business. The old toilets cater more toward men. To better accommodate women, NASA tilted the seat on the new toilet and made it taller. The new shape should help astronauts position themselves better for No. 2, said Johnson Space Center's Melissa McKinley, the project manager. "Cleaning up a mess is a big deal. We don't want any misses or escapes," she said.
As for No. 1, the funnels also have been redesigned. Women can use the elongated and scooped-out funnels to urinate while sitting on the commode to poop at the same time, McKinley said. Until now, it's been one or the other for female astronauts, she noted. Like earlier space commodes, air suction, rather than water and gravity, removes the waste. Urine collected by the new toilet will be routed into NASA's long-standing recycling system to produce water for drinking and cooking. Titanium and other tough alloys were chosen for the new toilet to withstand all the acid in the urine pretreatment.
As for No. 1, the funnels also have been redesigned. Women can use the elongated and scooped-out funnels to urinate while sitting on the commode to poop at the same time, McKinley said. Until now, it's been one or the other for female astronauts, she noted. Like earlier space commodes, air suction, rather than water and gravity, removes the waste. Urine collected by the new toilet will be routed into NASA's long-standing recycling system to produce water for drinking and cooking. Titanium and other tough alloys were chosen for the new toilet to withstand all the acid in the urine pretreatment.
46 Million! (Score:2)
Wow, last week they also sent a $23 million toilet.
https://science.slashdot.org/s... [slashdot.org]
But I understand. One toilet sucks. Imagine coming back from a spacewalk, and you need to pee, and somebody suddenly runs to the only toilet "I go first!".
Re:46 Million! (Score:5, Funny)
One toilet sucks.
In space, that's the whole point.
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Just make sure it doesn't blow as well, especially not to the ventilation system. That would surely make the shit hit the fan.
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In space, they all better suck, not just one.
Re: 46 Million! (Score:2)
Let see.10 year lifetime, 5 astronauts visiting 3 times per day. means roughly 400 dollar per poop. NASA astronauts must be shitting gold bricks!
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More than that. Call it 500 grams for an average deposit. That would cost about $25,000 to launch on the space shuttle, $1,350 or so with a Falcon. You'd save a bit recycling water, but lose a bit in waste, packaging etc. You also have to fly up the poop-production equipment.
Of course the $46 million is calculated to make the biggest number possible, in order to make the most click baitey headline. In this case it seems to be the already click baitey $23 million everyone else is reporting, multiplied by two
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Imagine coming back from a spacewalk, and you need to pee, and somebody suddenly runs to the only toilet "I go first!".
Well the astronaut coming back from the spacewalk is already wearing a diaper.
Overblown finances? (Score:3)
There is no way that toilet cost $23 million unless they are including the R&D. It's like saying that the first i7-10900k cost $23 million, while the second one and beyond only cost $380.
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There is no way that toilet cost $23 million
Probably not, but "A $23 million toilet..." sure makes a good headline.
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How many toilets are they going to make in total? I doubt there is a huge demand for space toilets...
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... today.
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Dude, the first i7 cost *trillions.* You have to count all the IC R&D it's based on, back to the sixties, after all.
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Um, it was a joke.
Whooosh?
You know who else had a $23 million toilet? (Score:1)
Its not a simple run of the mill toilet (Score:1)
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They're probably looking at the entire budget for the project rather than the actual per-unit cost. It makes things sound more sensational.
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Perhaps it includes shipping?
Too bad Bezos' rockets can't achieve orbit, then they could just accept their free trial of Prime...
Mary Roach's book (Score:2)
She's a writer with a bent for judging everything she covers by science. Her book, Packing for Mars, covers space toilets among other issues. They are quite complicated. The price probably included research but the toilet itself won't be a special on the Bold Look of Kohler at your local hardware store.
Re:Mary Roach's book (Score:5, Interesting)
If going to space was like Star Trek, then sign me up. The way it is in reality, no thank you. Going into space is one of the most awful things I can think to do. Lots of people want to climb Everest, but actually doing it sucks ass. Even so, it's probably more pleasant than going into space.
Being in space is like the part of a roller coaster where your stomach feels like it floats up into your throat, but the feeling never passes. You don't get to turn it off or get off the ride. You're stuck there for months before you can come back to Earth. As this story talks about, even pooping in space sucks ass (literally).
So many things that sound cool on the surface are really unpleasant in practice.
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Was it fun to read as well?
I had a lot of fun reading The Martian by Andy Weir, which (except for the sand storm) is supposed to be science-based.
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$23 million though? They could literally pay $1 million to the world's top 10 mechanical engineers and feces specialists to spend a year on the design full time coming up with ideas -- and still have $13 million leftover for fabrication and integration BS.
No. 2. (Score:1)
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No, it's because many Americans' education is so poor that they would mistake the word feces as a misspelling of faces and become confused
Re: No. 2. (Score:2)
Space pen (Score:3)
Meanwhile in the Russian quarters, Roscosmos gives them old newspapers to do their business outside, behind a radiator panel
Re: Space pen (Score:2)
In the Russian part there is an airlock where only your ass sticks outside. The vacuum sucks it all out
Re: Space pen (Score:1)
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Just remember to keep your mouth open when you go.
Ok, ok, just to get that joke out of the way (Score:5, Funny)
"So they can finally go where no man has gone before"
So. There. I said it.
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It's actually where only men have gone before, because the former design's urine separator wouldn't work for them while they were doing a deux. They had to perform one elimination function at a time. On Earth you can buy a urine separator system to turn a bucket into a composting toilet with powered venting for about a hundred bucks, but apparently in space processing girl pee costs $27M
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Indeed. Now go sit in the corner and think about what you just did.
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Fiber really is essential (Score:2)
Good for you regularly, but in zero G, having everything held together as it comes out, that is a must. Still surprised no one has designed a butt probe toilet that goes in and vacuums stuff out, with warm water and maybe a stool softener. Sounds gay but I cant imagine anything better for containment.
Why? (Score:3)
Can someone explain to me why their space toilet is made of titanium?
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Can someone explain to me why their space toilet is made of titanium?
I'm assuming it's some combination of weight and corrosion resistance.
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That sounds like a good explanation. For added weight savings, I'm hoping they 3D-printed it?
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I'm assuming it's some combination of weight and corrosion resistance.
Probably outgassing too. Carbon fiber is very strong and light and the right epoxies are very corrosion resistant, but outgassing from plastics is a real problem is a fully sealed environment.
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To quote the article summary:
Additionally, this is a toilet made to last years on the space station. It needs to be durable, reliable, cleanable, and not be heavier than necessary. Porcelain is too heavy, and probably cannot easily be made into an air-suction based space toilet. Stainless steel might also be an option, I believe that's what the bowls are other components are made of on airplane
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Yeah. The summary.
Hey, I'm bored! ( (Score:1)
So the Norovirus can come (Score:2)
On the way!
Can It Pass A Real Test? (Score:1)
Can it handle the output of a person that has just consumed Mrs. Wolowitz' meatloaf?
.
If you don't know the reference, look up "The Big Bang Theory" TV show.
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