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NASA bought space station toilet for $19M

Posted on 09.07.2007 at 04:37 in Tech News by Martin

I thought this must be some kind of joke but it is obviously a deadly serious piece of news: NASA has purchased a Russian-made toilet system for $19 million dollars. The expensive toilet will be installed on the American side of the International Space Station. Astronauts have used the same toilet system on the Russian side of the space station for years. Leg and thigh restraints will keep astronauts in place while they do their business. During operation, fans in the toilet suck stuff to a septic and wastewater tank – after all floating poo is very bad thing.

Sending water into space is a very expensive proposition, so water rationing and recycling are top priorities for NASA and the Russian space agencies. Almost all water is recycled with a three step purification process that supposedly makes extremely pure tap water, according to NASA. Astronauts scrub themselves with wet clothes instead of using typical showers found on Earth. The urine is recycled into water for drinking and showering. Body sweat is also recycled by condensing it out of the air and running it through filters. The toilet is expected to be installed in 2008. NASA says the $19 million dollars is cheaper than what it would have cost the agency to design its own toilet system.

Source: TGDaily, ArsTechnica 

* Comments(18)

Comments (18)

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  1. Kevin staff member
    July 9th, 2007 | 04:39

    Hey, Martin credited the source! :D Now all you gotta do is link to the article, but you’ll get there. ;-)

  2. ReelFiles
    July 9th, 2007 | 04:55

    That’s some expensive toilet, so basically they are only 3 steps away from drinking their own bodily secretions… Well I’ll make sure my son never wants to be an astronaut, hehe.

  3. Martin staff member
    July 9th, 2007 | 05:17

    ReelFiles: i am pretty sure soldiers during WW1/2 did the same thing even without filtering so it won’t be probably that bad to be an astronaut :)

  4. anon
    July 9th, 2007 | 05:34

    I remember reading somewhere. Where you can eat your own shit 5 times before all the nutrient is sucked out of it. LOL >.>

  5. WingAttackGroupExIII
    July 9th, 2007 | 05:38

    Good ole nasa throwing away money to the russians.. more money to pay the spies.

  6. blob
    July 9th, 2007 | 06:32

    Holy space shit Batman, I’m getting one these for my home for those drunken nights leg and thigh restraints will come in handy :)

  7. adf123
    July 9th, 2007 | 06:56

    I think it recycles the crap into toothpaste too.

  8. caLm horiZons
    July 9th, 2007 | 08:25

    Im not a huge fan of being tied down whilst trying to release a chocolate hostage, but hey, what ever floats ur boat..I hope it wipes your barking spider clean for that price aswell..

  9. blob
    July 9th, 2007 | 09:35

    chocolate hostage lol n1

  10. sder
    July 9th, 2007 | 11:12

    rofl, why spend money to that while there are childeren with no home and no food..

  11. me
    July 9th, 2007 | 14:28

    some things shouldnt be recycled!
    shit, piss , body sweat are 3 of them

  12. me
    July 9th, 2007 | 18:39

    NASA has made no major achievements in the past 40 years. Funding should be cut to this idiotic government agency. Why the hell do we need a space station?! so we can test silly bathrooms like this one?!

  13. Digitalfox
    July 9th, 2007 | 19:56

    To the comment number 12, here is my answer to his question :)

    This planet will not hold mutch longer, the rising of population.. With billions of people, and all things make expect this number to double in this century..
    Also resource minerals are not unlimited, yes they will finish sooner or later..

    Asteroids and comets for example are a great source of iron and others, with nasa already starting to plan a way of reaching them and extracting minerals..

    The future is in Space.. It may not be this decade, not the next 50 years, but sooner or later people will see the space has the future..

    I hope i have answered your question :)

  14. DK
    July 9th, 2007 | 20:00

    In response to 12, the little things we do now will have a large effect in the future or at least get the ball rolling. Everything has a start and took time to get where its at.

  15. Digitalfox
    July 9th, 2007 | 20:02

    Forgot… About the space Station, well they do make a lot of tests and experiments in the space station.. And many of the new technologies for space are based in those tests :)

  16. nebula
    July 10th, 2007 | 01:35

    There are hundreds of things that were developed for use in space and later became everyday items on earth. Velcro is one example.

    Also, as digitalfox already said, space is the future for mankind. This planet alone will not be able to sustain us for much longer.

  17. amperage
    July 10th, 2007 | 17:15

    Funny story Martin…. who ever said American’s cann’t spend their hard earn money wisely.

    I have yet to hear this on the news yet and I am spending some time in Cocoa Beach Florida….

  18. ByteRider
    July 10th, 2007 | 18:28

    Actually, we all drink our own fluids .. it’s just that there are a few more steps invovled than the 3 that the astronauts are using.

    Basically, it goes like this…

    You -> Toilet -> Sewer -> WasteWater treatment plant -> River
    Then .. River -> Waste treatment plant -> Water pipes -> You

    So .. this fancy toilet/recycler just combines the funtions of a wastewater treatment plant with a waste treatment plant.

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