Astronauts used to have a glorified profession but now #NASA wants "em to eat #poop? - http://clapway.com/2015/08/20/nasa-receives-200000-to-turn-human-poop-into-space-food-322/

NASA has been doing a lot of weird things in regards to what astronauts may be eating while they’re out in space, but this newest idea takes the cake. In a recent blog post, NASA announced that it received a $200,000 grant that would allow the agency to research how they might be able to use human poop as a reusable food source.

NASA’s Innovation Engine

This news comes from NASA’s decision to select eight university-led studies that would explore and research various innovative technologies that would help propel America’s space program further along its path.

Among the various technologies were proposals for how to tackle areas of solar cell operations in scenarios involving high temperature, atmosphere entry, synthetic biology, and “dynamic tensegrity-based space structures.” Structures with tensegrity properties would be able to maintain mass with various changes in tension and compression.

“These early career researchers will provide fuel for NASA’s innovation engine,” said Steve Jurczyk, an associate admin of NASA’s Space Technology Directorate.

Learn more about NASA here!

So, What About the Poop?

NASA doesn’t refer to this program in terms quite so blunt. Instead, NASA is calling this the Synthetic Biology for Recycling Human Waste into Food, Nutraceuticals, and Materials: Closing the Loop for Long-Term Space Travel. Try saying that five times fast.

Mark Blenner of Clemson University in South Carolina is heading the project, and it’s just another idea NASA has to help solve how astronauts will maintain a sustainable supply of food during deep space missions.

NASA isn’t the first organization to consider repurposing human waste. Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates helped fund a water filtration system that turns human excrement into safe, drinkable water.

Preferable (?) Alternative Methods

Expedition 44 recently ate part of the second harvest of crop they’ve been growing on the Russian segment. This project is called veg-01, and the idea is that astronauts will be able to grow their own fresh produce while in space through the use of pillows. Astronauts plant these pillows, and in about 33 days they will have fresh produce to eat. So far the first taste-testing began earlier this week, and went over well. Astronauts aboard the ISS ate half of the harvest and sent the rest back for a second round of tests back at NASA headquarters.

Find more about NASA’s space gardening here.

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NASA Receives $200,000 to Turn Human Poop Into Space Food

Canadian Company Patents a Space Elevator - http://clapway.com/2015/08/15/canadian-company-patents-a-space-elevator543/

On July 21 Thoth Technology, a Canadian space and defense company, was granted a US patent for a space elevator. This freestanding structure would stand 20 km (12 miles) high, and be used for ‘wind-energy generation, communications and tourism,’ said Thoth in its blog.

Ditching Rockets

Space elevators certainly aren’t a new concept. Russian scientists have been exploring the idea of space elevators since 1895. It is important to note that this structure isn’t a literal elevator leading straight to space. The idea is that the elevated launch platform will reduce fuel costs, and make traveling to space much more routine than the dramatic launches we have now. According to Thoth, the proposed technology could save up to 30 percent of the fuel it typically takes to get spacecraft into space. Unfortunately, the patent doesn’t go into much detail on how exactly it plans to do this aside from simply skipping over those first twelve miles. The patent says that the space elevator will use “gravity-defying technologies,” but as CNET’s Erik Mack discusses, “Technically speaking, getting to space hasn’t become any easier over the past half century or so. It still requires using huge rockets to create a massive enough amount of force to push a payload beyond the grip of Earth’s gravity.” Learning what technologies Thoth has developed should prove interesting.

Objectives

The space elevator will be using modular tubes of Kevlar polyethylene composites filled with pressurized gas (helium). These tubes are light enough that the helium actually helps keep the space elevator stable. This essentially allows the launch pad to stay elevated while allowing the base of the structure to ‘guide’ it. Dr. Brendan Quine, the inventor, says, “Astronauts would ascend 20 km by electrical elevator. From the top of the tower, space planes will launch in a single stage to orbit, returning to the top of the tower for refueling and reflight.”

Looking to the Future

NASA is currently working on its largest rocket to date to reach Mars, so it’s interesting to see other companies exploring alternative options that might lead to lower cost mission later down the road. Thoth President and CEO Caroline Roberts believes the space elevator will introduce a new era of space transportation, but we’ll be waiting with bated breath until then.

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Canadian Company Patents a Space Elevator