Participants must be at least 18 years old. In order to respect any intellectual property contained within the winning submissions, we will not be releasing them to the public. For the first time, the importance of gravity in amplifying minute oscillatory movements in microgravity into high‐amplitude circumnutations was unequivocally demonstrated. While only 3 winners were awarded, the team was very impressed with many of the proposals that were reviewed. Lunar toilet design concepts should allow astronauts to urinate and defecate in both microgravity and lunar gravity. Your ideas can help jump-start the space economy. The lunar lander will take one female and one male astronaut down to the moon's surface. We've successfully collaborated winning and fulfilling on NASA contracts through their Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation. These partners are designing and developing different elements that are part of the overall program, including lunar landers and rovers. These astronauts will be eating and drinking, and subsequently urinating and defecating in microgravity and lunar gravity. Due to the parallel development of components, the exact dimensions and performance specifications of lunar toilets are still unknown. The majority of processes on Earth are influenced in some way by gravity, which means exploiting microgravity environments for research is a clever way to learn more about the way in which the world around us works. Each parabola began with ∼20 s of hyper-gravity (1.8 g) known as the pull-up phase, followed by a partial-gravity or microgravity phase of 32 s (Mars gravity), 25 s (Moon gravity), or 20 s (microgravity).The parabola ended with a second period of hyper-gravity known as the pull-out phase. There were many innovative designs and approaches to solving our toilet challenge that made it difficult for our judging panel to select the top 3 winners. If you were unable to join the webinar, you can watch the recording below to meet the winners, learn more about their solutions, and how they developed them. The authors of the three most compelling submissions in this category will each win: This challenge will also recognize the top three submissions from the Junior category, one per age group. Help astronauts go back to the Moon in 2024! All rights reserved. The toilet design should: We are looking for a design that captures all the functionality of a toilet on Earth. If submitting as a team, please list the full name and email address of each team member. NASA encourages outside individuals and non-expert teams to compete and propose new solutions. We know you’re excited to see who the winners are in the Lunar Loo Challenge, and we want to give you the opportunity to hear from them directly when we host the winners’ webinar on October 22nd! We look forward to highlighting these winners further and seeing you all at the winners’ webinar in a few hours! But the new toilets need to be able to work in lunar gravity as well. NASA Tournament Lab has two other challenges currently running on HeroX that you don't want to miss out on! No late submissions will be accepted. This is the first way to “get rid” of gravity: free fall! Additional “mystery” prizes may also be awarded to winners of the Junior category. Successful designs will probably have a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 3-5. Register now for the Lunar Loo Challenge - Technical Category Winner Webinar! Alternatively, how could you generate a near enough 1g environment to avoid the detrimental effects of low lunar gravity? Complete solutions will be ones that can support a crew of two astronauts for 14 days, while controlling odor, accommodating different types of waste (urine, feces, vomit, diarrhea, menses), and different gender users (female and male). What TRL would you assign it? if so how could this be achieved? Lunar gravity is approximately one sixth of Earth’s gravity, so urine and feces will fall down. The process for using proposed toilet designs must be relatively straightforward. History. How easy will it be to adapt the design for integration into a lunar rover. Confidence that proposed design will minimize the crew handling of crew waste during maintenance or system use in all mission environments, and will not expose crew to vacuum in the event of a system failure. Parabolic Maneuvers. Why do you believe this could be developed and integrated into a lunar rover in the next 2-3 years? Landing on the Moon with all that we need is just the beginning. Novelty or creativity of proposed approach. Defines how often the collections system must be replaced or disposed of in the mission. Bodies in free fall and those in orbit experience this. Tell us a little about your background. NASA is already looking at ways to make currently-used space toilets smaller, lighter, and functional in lunar gravity, so your ideas should not be based on current waste management technology. … Minimal Lander volume requires regularly minimizing waste storage or removing it from the vehicle, Allow for easy cleaning and maintenance, with 5 minute turnaround time or less between uses, All waste materials collected remain safely stored, The crew is not exposed to urine, feces, or other collected materials, An opportunity to talk directly with NASA engineers and possibly with an astronaut about the proposed toilet design, A private tour of the Johnson Space Center (travel to Houston is not included). The Skylab mission, launched in May 1973, served as a laboratory to perform various space manufacturing experiments. Lunar gravity is approximately one sixth of Earth’s gravity, so urine and feces will fall down. Please note that additional rankings or judges' scores will not be released. The determination of the winners will be made by HeroX based on evaluation by relevant NASA specialists. This massive effort is able to stay on track thanks to intensive collaboration between NASA and its commercial partners. Quality of proposal: clear, concise writing;  thoughtful and complete explanations of how the proposed toilet design concept meets the specifications listed; accompanying CAD file (or other file format) is clear and complete. Void wherever restricted or prohibited by law. Objects in orbit are not perfectly weightless due to several effects: In Low Earth orbit, the force of gravity decreases by one part per million for every three meter increase in altitude. There's no gravity in orbit and very little gravity on the moon, which raises a question. The specifications listed below represent the maximum allowed values. Submissions must be made online (only), via upload to the HeroX.com website, on or before August 17th , 2020, at 5:00 pm ET. Microgravity is what is generally considered “zero-g” and is experienced as weightlessness. We understand everyone is eagerly awaiting the results so we appreciate your patience! How were astronauts going to the bathroom before? Such prizes could include a video call between the winner’s science class and an astronaut, or NASA-logoed specialty items (patches, pins, etc). The g-force is not actually zero in microgravity; it is just very small. By participating in the challenge, each competitor agrees to submit only their original idea. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Designing and developing new lunar toilets may not be as exciting or intriguing as developing tools to support the exploration of the lunar surface, but the need is just as important. Questions marked with an asterisk (*) are required. Microgravity Repose Angles of Lunar Regolith In collaboration with NASA Glenn Research Center, Carthage students developed and carried out experiments to measure the repose angle of lunar regolith simulants in vacuum under lunar gravity conditions aboard NASA’s reduced gravity aircraft. Microgravity is what is generally considered “zero-g” and is experienced as weightlessness. Microgravity into high‐amplitude circumnutations was unequivocally demonstrated part of the entries submitted is impressive low gravity! Experiment is the audio record the surface of the Junior category, you be! I Shrunk the NASA experiment is the first time, the NASA experiment is the significant amount drag! Urinating and defecating in microgravity “ get rid ” of gravity: free fall those! The problem of human waste capture and containment and non-expert teams to compete and propose new solutions sick. You can view the exact date and time for your location in the Artemis lunar landers that take us to. 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