Ever thought about where poop goes on a rocket? NASA has! And, in true NASA fashion, they’re eager to make the most of all that human waste wasting in space.
For now, astronauts store their waste in containers and then move the containers onto cargo vehicles that burn up before returning to earth’s atmosphere. But if NASA ever hopes to build a permanent station on the moon, they need a better way to deal with all that waste that doesn’t involve turning the moon into a giant sewer.
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So researchers from the University of Florida produced a study for them on how to turn poop into rocket fuel.
No, seriously, that’s not a bad joke. Actual rocket fuel.
They studied how much methane they can get out of food waste, uneaten food, packaging, and other products likes towels and wash cloths. “The idea was to see whether we could make enough fuel to launch rockets and not carry all the fuel and its weight from Earth for the return journey,” explained one professor on UF’s website. “Methane can be used to fuel the rockets. Enough methane can be produced to come back from the moon.”
They came up with a process that produced 290 liters of methane per crew per day, and a process to get rid of pathogens in the human waste and produce biogas, a mix of methane and carbon dioxide.
And don’t worry: this poop recycling could be used on earth, as well. “It could be used on campus or around town, or anywhere, to convert waste into fuel,” said the researcher.
Read more about the study from the university.
