NASA turns human excrement into food for astronauts

After enjoying the call of nature, gently press the toilet button and then return to life, working normally with a refreshing sigh - this is the process that most people complete when follow natural biological mechanisms.

The city's drainage and sewerage system will treat the waste we have emitted and bring it back to nature at a safe level. However, in space, everything common on the ground becomes quite complicated and defecation is no exception.

Recently, scientists also revealed a project called "Artificial Biology in the Recycling of Human Waste" , specifically they hope that the things that astronauts have released will be Return to their own mouth after processing.

And of course, scientists won't let astronauts eat their own faeces directly .

International space station (ISS).

Currently, the only spacecraft that can support astronauts to stay in space for a long time is the International Space Station (ISS). There, the spaceship will visit often and bring the necessary items.

However, since NASA ended its space shuttle project in 2011, the crew of astronauts living on the International Space Station (ISS) have relied on commercial transport ships such as SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, as well as shipping programs of other countries.

But in reality, bringing weak food and utensils to space doesn't always go smoothly, and when they return to the surface, these cargo ships will carry garbage from the universe. including the waste of packed astronauts.

Before being packaged, it will be stabilized by strong and acidic oxidizers and will be dried, but the process is relatively complicated and expensive.

Restroom on the International Space Station (ISS).

When you want to leave Earth's orbit farther into outer space, such as approaching Mars, the food supply will become an extremely difficult problem.

It takes about nine months for astronauts to orbit Mars, which means that the supplies will also take a corresponding amount of time, but due to technical conditions or financial constraints, It is very likely that receiving supplies from the Earth on this long journey will face many difficulties.

Therefore, NASA is always looking for ways to replace the traditional method of providing necessary food via transport ships.

Therefore, the waste that is recycled to produce food during the flight into space has become extremely urgent. In addition to going to Mars, the importance of this work can assist when humans fly farther into the solar system and even fly out of the solar system.

In a study conducted by NASA-funded researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, scientists discovered two types of bacteria that can help humans complete the task of turning waste into "treasure."

These two bacteria, one responsible for producing methane and nitrogen from manure through anaerobic digestion, and the other bacteria will produce protein and fat from the rest.

Eventually, astronauts will eat the food produced by these bacteria. In the current experiment, the characteristics of this food are concentrated in the form of chewing gum and taste not too bad.

This type of food possesses a pretty good percentage of nutrition for the astronauts' body when it contains 52% protein and 36% fat.

Astronaut eating and drinking on ISS.

In fact, this recycling is not a new issue, before the astronauts have been using drinking water recycled from their own urine, but the most stressful issue is the psychology of the pilots. astronauts, or imagine, what would you think when you picked up a piece of food, put it in your mouth and ate them while knowing they were made from your own poop?