Nasa's latest mission: to boldly go
For the benefit of all, proclaims the motto of Nasa. Now the US government space agency is calling upon its employees - and indeed anybody passing by who has the urge - to give their all in one of its trickiest missions: to boldly go into a beaker.
Researchers on the agency's Orion programme have put out a call for volunteers to donate urine as it tests toilet designs for the latest generation of space capsules.
Urine poses a unique problem for space travellers: it contains solids that can clog the plumbing of even the most sophisticated of spacecraft.
The urine collection drive will last for 11 days. The aim is to collect 30 litres a day, although anyone hoping to give a personal boost to the agency's mission should be aware that a personal limit of 350 millilitres has been imposed. "While this is not a regulation," the memo reads, "you are not encouraged to over-hydrate as this could dilute the urine we collect."
Dan Glaister
The Guardian, Thursday July 17, 2008
guardian.co.uk
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2008
For the benefit of all, proclaims the motto of Nasa. Now the US government space agency is calling upon its employees - and indeed anybody passing by who has the urge - to give their all in one of its trickiest missions: to boldly go into a beaker.
Researchers on the agency's Orion programme have put out a call for volunteers to donate urine as it tests toilet designs for the latest generation of space capsules.
Urine poses a unique problem for space travellers: it contains solids that can clog the plumbing of even the most sophisticated of spacecraft.
The urine collection drive will last for 11 days. The aim is to collect 30 litres a day, although anyone hoping to give a personal boost to the agency's mission should be aware that a personal limit of 350 millilitres has been imposed. "While this is not a regulation," the memo reads, "you are not encouraged to over-hydrate as this could dilute the urine we collect."
Dan Glaister
The Guardian, Thursday July 17, 2008
guardian.co.uk
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2008
