ＮＡＳＡ「アルテミス」計画、月面トイレの「斬新な」デザイン公募

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】人は誰でもトイレを必要とする──それは、宇宙飛行士も変わらない。米航空宇宙局（NASA）では、宇宙開発初期のアポロ計画で用いられた「プラスチック袋を尻に張り付ける」方法から国際宇宙ステーション（ISS）に導入されている送風吸引式トイレまで、微小重力下での排せつを可能にするさまざまな方法が模索されてきた。（写真は米ヒューストンで行われた米航空宇宙局（NASA）の宇宙飛行士候補生の公開卒業式）
　そして、ＮＡＳＡは２５日、２０２４年の実現を目指す有人月面着陸計画「アルテミス」向けに、微小重力と月の重力の両方に対応した新型トイレのデザインを世界中から公募すると発表した。月面車に搭載する予定だという。
　最優秀デザインの賞金は２万ドル（約２１０万円）、２位と３位はそれぞれ１万ドル（約１１０万円）と５０００ドル（約５０万円）。１８歳以下が対象の「ジュニア」部門では、ＮＡＳＡロゴ入りグッズなどの賞品が贈られる。
　ＮＡＳＡは「Ｌｕｎａｒ Ｌｏｏ（月トイレ）」チャレンジのウェブサイトに２５日に掲載した要項の中で、「人間の排せつ物を捕捉し格納する斬新でこれまでにないアプローチが提案されることを期待している」と述べている。
　月の重力は地球の６分の１しかないため、地球上ほどの勢いではないが尿や便は落下する。新型トイレは、こうした環境下で使用できることが条件だ。大きさは０・１２立方メートル以内で、騒音レベルは浴槽の換気ファンと同程度の６０デシベル未満と規定されている。
　なお、「宇宙飛行士がトイレに頭を突っ込まなくても嘔吐（おうと）できるデザインにはボーナスポイントが付与される」という。締め切りは８月１７日。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/06/29-13:08）

Everyone poops.
Including astronauts, who have since the early space era found ways to do their business in near-zero gravity -- from the Apollo missions when waste management was, in NASA's words, a plastic bag which was taped to the buttocks to capture feces, to the more advanced toilets of the International Space Station that use fan-driven suction systems.
Now the US space agency is calling on the world's inventors to develop a toilet that works not just in microgravity, but also lunar gravity on a future lunar lander spacecraft, as part of its plans to return to the Moon by 2024 under the Artemis mission.
The winning design will receive $20,000, with $10,000 for second place and $5,000 for third. Children under the age of 18 are also encouraged to apply in a junior category where the prizes are public recognition and NASA-themed merchandise.
This challenge hopes to attract radically new and different approaches to the problem of human waste capture and containment, NASA wrote in a challenge overview that was posted Thursday (https://www.herox.com/LunarLoo).
The toilet should work on the Moon's gravity, which is about a sixth of the Earth's -- so urine and feces will fall, though there will be less of a plop.
It should occupy no more than 0.12 cubic meters (4.2 cubic feet) and operate with a noise level of less than 60 decibels -- roughly equal to a bathroom ventilation fan on Earth.
Most important of all, it should be able to collect urine and feces simultaneously, accommodating a liter of the former and 500 grams (17.6 ounces) of the latter, including in diarrhea form.
The specifications add that it should be able to deal with up to 114 grams of menstrual blood per crew per day and allow for easy cleaning and maintenance, with 5 minute turnaround time or less between uses.
The system must also be able to store the waste or toss it outside the vehicle.
During the Apollo missions, urine expelled into space froze into a shower of glistening ice crystal, author Craig Nelson poetically noted in his book Rocket Men. The astronauts also left bags of waste on the Moon's surface, which NASA has said it one day hopes to study for signs of life.
The deadline for the competition is August 17, and bonus points will be awarded to designs that can capture vomit without requiring the crew member to put his/her head in the toilet.