NASA Doesn't Know What to Do With Poop in Spacesuits

"It isn't glamorous, but it is necessary for survival."

By Alanah Pearce

NASA has just launched a competition to get some help figuring out what to do if astronauts have to poop in their spacesuits.

On the ISS, which is the furthest vessel from Earth that houses humans, astronauts have access to a 'toilet' that uses a vacuum to suck up and store any feces. If anything goes wrong with the spacecraft, though, such as loss of vehicle pressure, astronauts would have to stay in their spacesuits, and poop inside them.

This isn't a huge concern on the ISS as it's possible for astronauts to get back to Earth in a few hours, but with NASA planning to send humans to Mars in around 15 years, astronauts could be stranded in their suits for several days.

NASA's next generation of suits (called the 'Z2') will provide astronauts with clean air, shelter, water and enough nutrients for up to six days straight, which, according to Astronaut Richard Mastracchio, is enough time to get them safely back to Earth. But, regarding the need to poop in suits, Mastracchio said, "given enough time infection or even sepsis can set in," which could harm or "even kill" astronauts.

NASA's new Z2 Spacesuit.

So, NASA's competition, which is being hosted on open prize platform Hero X, is looking for ideas to safely solve the problem. There are 22 days left to enter, and the prize is $30,000. You can enter the "Space Poop Challenge" here.

"It isn't glamorous, but it is necessary for survival," Mastracchio said.

Alanah Pearce is an editor at IGN who really likes writing about space news, even if it involves writing the word 'poop' nearly 10 separate times on a Monday morning. You can find her on Twitter @Charalanahzard. 

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