9-year-old Malaysian boy wins junior Lunar Loo Challenge

He invented a spacesuit toilet

In June, NASA announced it plans to send people back to the moon by 2024. And because astronauts are, first of all, humans, NASA needed to design a toilet solution perfect for the microgravity of space, as well as the moon.

Dubbed as the Lunar Loo Challenge, the design competition was split into two categories, adults and children (junior).

After studying nearly 900 submissions in the Junior category, NASA has picked a winner, the 9-year-old Malaysian, Zyson Kang.

Kang’s ‘Spacesuit Lunar Toilet’ is designed to fit inside an astronaut’s spacesuit, as the name implies. In the microgravity of space, the toilet device creates a vacuum to suck up any liquids that the astronaut ‘releases’. All that the astronaut really needs to do is move their leg, which will then channel their urine into a container stored in their boots.

The best part about this is the fact that the device doesn’t need batteries or a supply of electricity to function, which makes it a lightweight and cheap way to answer nature’s call in space.

According to Kang’s coach, Chong Soo Sheong, 43, at the I-Discovery World science center in Selangor, Malaysia, the boy has always had a knack for inventing.

“He is an avid reader with an extremely curious mind. Science simply excites him, especially astronomy”, says Chong Soo Sheong. He and Kang started on the project in June and submitted it to NASA’s Lunar Loo panel of judges in August.

“On October 29, NASA invited him to present his model at a webinar. The NASA team was impressed by the simplicity of his model”, says Chong. Kang managed to beat over 897 participants from 85 countries.

Kang’s spacesuit toilet could have other use-cases, especially for medical professionals in emergency situations. Just imagine how much it would be uncomfortable and inconvenient, as well as less safe to have to go to the bathroom while you’re dealing with a medical emergency.

“For instance, medical personnel will normally have to remove or change out of their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) if they have to go the toilet while handling COVID-19 patients”, Chong explains.

“Zyson’s compact toilet model will allow doctors and nurses to catch their toilet breaks during an emergency without having to change or remove their PPE gowns”.

Source sea.mashable.com