9月29日,一款耗資2300萬美元的廁所升空了。
這個名為通用廢物管理系統(UWMS)的昂貴廁所裝置搭載諾斯羅普•格魯曼公司的「天鵝座」貨運飛船,以常規補給任務的形式被發射至國際空間站。
據NASA高級探測系統後勤項目經理梅麗莎•麥金利介紹,這款新型廁所為深空探索任務而設計,其特點在於優化質量體積和能源使用效率。
NASA's first new space potty in decades – a 23-million-U.S.-dollar titanium toilet better suited for women – is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station (ISS) before eventually flying to the moon.
It's packed inside a cargo ship set to blast off late Thursday from Wallops Island, Virginia.
與空間站現有廁所相比,新型廁所裝置體積更小,重量更輕,可以容納更多太空人,且不需要任何手動操作。它不僅能夠收集儲存太空人的排洩物,還能通過內置系統將尿液處理為再生水,以便循環利用。
此外,隨著更多的女性太空人參與太空探索任務,這款「智能馬桶」重新調整了座椅和尿液漏鬥的位置,以滿足女性太空人的使用需求。
Barely 45 kilograms and just 71 centimeters tall, the new toilet called the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) is roughly half as big as the two Russian-built toilets at the space station. It's more camper-size to fit into the NASA Orion capsules that will carry astronauts to the moon in a few years.
Like earlier space commodes, air suction, rather than water and gravity, removes the waste. Urine collected by the new toilet will be routed into NASA's long-standing recycling system to produce water for drinking and cooking. Titanium and other tough alloys were chosen for the new toilet to withstand all the acid in the urine pretreatment.
The old toilets cater more toward men. To better accommodate women, NASA tilted the seat on the new toilet and made it taller. The new shape should help astronauts position themselves better for No. 2, said Johnson Space Center's Melissa McKinley, the project manager.
在外太空,上個廁所有多難?
相比早期進行太空探索的太空人,如今的太空如廁體驗已經美妙得多。
在人類太空飛行初期,由於空間有限,太空船上甚至沒有預備廁所,太空人的如廁問題始終得不到解決。如今已是家喻戶曉的尿不溼的前身,就是當時為解決太空人如廁需求,利用高分子吸收體發明的一款吸水力極強的紙尿片。
隨著人類在太空停留的時間越來越長,太空廁所應運而生。但早期受技術限制,大多數廁所裝置功能簡單,操作繁瑣,還有洩漏的風險。此後經過多次改良,太空廁所的功能逐漸趨於完備。
近年來,載人航天事業正在各國如火如荼開展。與此同時,操作簡便,能滿足更多太空人使用的太空廁所需求日盛。
據NASA介紹,這款新研製的廁所裝置將被放置在國際空間站現有廁所旁邊的檔位中。未來三年,太空人將對其在微重力環境下的表現進行測試,以供未來登月或者火星計劃使用。
With SpaceX now launching astronauts to the space station and Boeing less than a year from sending up its first crew, more toilets are needed. The new one will be in its own stall alongside the old one on the U.S. side of the outpost.
Station residents will test it out for a few months. If the shakedown goes well, the toilet will be open for regular business.