For the first time in about half a century, NASA is about to send astronauts to the Moon. Before that, those responsible for the Orion spacecraft must fix a rather confusing problem:its toilet smells too strong. A new toilet model is to be tested soon by astronauts.
Currently, the United States Space Agency (NASA) is preparing to send astronauts to the Moon , a first since 1972. In 2023, a crew will embark for ten days as part of a flight around the Moon. The following year, there will be talk of a landing mission on the surface of our satellite. To carry out these missions, NASA plans to use the Orion spacecraft. As Business Insider explains in an article from September 23, 2020, the toilets in the capsule are too smelly , a bad smell inevitably impacting the entire vessel. This is a real challenge for Jason Hutt, Orion's engineering manager.
“If you want to recreate the smell of a used spaceship, grab a few dirty diapers, microwave food wrappers, a used vomit bag and some sweaty towels, put them in an old-fashioned metal trash can and let them bake in the summer sun for ten days. Then open the kid up and take a deep breath,” the person said in a tweet on August 18, 2020.
Remember, however, that the Orion capsule has a length similar to a small motorboat. Thus, it is incumbent on the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) to operate in this small environment without however generating significant odors. To ensure this, a new model of toilet will soon be sent to the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts will test it and compare it to the usual ISS toilets (see photo below). The fact is that this new UWMS is not so different from other space toilets. In the absence of a gravity in Space that would have allowed the waste to be evacuated downwards, the system uses motorized fans . The goal? Vacuum astronaut urine and feces.
Only here, if feces will remain stored aboard Orion until its return to Earth, this will not be the case for urine due to lack of space. In addition, unlike the ISS, the ship is unable to recycle it to make drinking water. Unfortunately, there is still not enough space for the filter system. Thus, the astronauts could evacuate it in Space, where it could freeze due to the temperature (- 270°C) and float in this form until the dawn of time.
We already mentioned that the Orion capsule is very small, so the weight requirements are very strict there. The toilet must therefore be light and this must also be the case for its motors and other fans. However, small motors would cause intense noise in view of the need for a powerful suction . Moreover, the fact that the capsule is made of aluminum does not help the propagation of noise. However, a noisy toilet could provide some "privacy" for astronauts in this tight space.
In any case, storing feces in the capsule requires finding a way to reduce the stench. However, it is obviously impossible to open a window like in a house or to use a simple air freshener which would quickly pollute the indoor air. The key could be in powdered carbon filters, a compact solution requiring no chemicals or electricity.
