Out-Of-The-World Solution: NASA Hunts For 'Space Poop' Geniuses

When you’ve got to go but you’re out there in space, zipped up in a spacesuit, with no toilet in sight and a crew of other astronauts around, what do you do? NASA has launched a contest for inventors to solve this uncomfortable issue, and promises to award $30,000 to the best “space poop” solutions. Inventors have until December 20 to submit designs for a personalized waste-wicking system that will handle everything, hands-free, for a period of up to six days. The old standby solution consisted of diapers. The two men and one woman who packed themselves into a Russian Soyuz space capsule last week had to wait two full days between launching from Kazakhstan and arriving at the International Space Station. On Future missions to deep space destinations, NASA suspects it could take up to six days to get to a proper toilet. Currently, astronauts use a toilet contraption that includes a vacuum and a tube to help evacuate fecal matter.