NASA will pay millions of euros for fecal waste disposal on the Moon: what is known about the LunaRecycle Challenge
22 April 07:40
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has promised to pay millions of euros to anyone who figures out how to dispose of human feces bags on the moon. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to BILD.
What happened: 96 bags of feces remained on the Moon
During the Apollo missions (1969-1972), astronauts left 96 plastic bags of feces and other biological waste on the moon. This was done to save space in the descent module, as the priority at the time was lunar soil samples to be returned to Earth.
This “historical waste” is still on the lunar surface, and it has become a new challenge for engineers, environmentalists, and space technology startups.
What is the LunaRecycle Challenge?
NASA launched the LunaRecycle Challenge to find effective ways to reduce, recycle, store, and dispose of human waste in space.
The key goal is to prevent trash from returning to Earth and to develop systems that will work both on the Moon and on Earth.
Contest conditions:
- Prize fund: up to 2.7 million euros
- Objective: to dispose of or recycle biological and household waste in the conditions of the Moon
- Criteria: safety, efficiency, reusability, minimization of environmental impact
- Participants: engineers, scientists, startups, students – anyone with an innovative idea.
How to participate
Anyone can apply through the official website of the competition (information will appear on the NASA portal). A description of the idea, technical documentation, and stages of implementation are required.
The jury will evaluate innovation, feasibility, and scalability.
Why does NASA need this?
With NASA’s growing ambitions for long-term lunar missions and future bases, the problem of waste management is becoming critical. In a closed ecosystem, even biological waste can pose a threat to the health of the crew as well as to the lunar environment.
In addition, waste disposal in space has economic and energy value: it can be converted into resources such as water, gas, or fertilizers.
What will it bring to the Earth?
NASA emphasizes that the technologies developed as part of the LunaRecycle Challenge can have wide applications on Earth, from disaster relief to autonomous ecosystems in remote regions or even on underwater stations.
