Poo-lined hull for the Mars space ship

[Grinning_Colossus]

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-03/04/mars-poop-space-shield

A mission to Mars planned for 2018 intends to make use of human waste to shield its participants from cosmic radiation.

Inspiration Mars aims to take advantage of a particular planetary alignment which would allow a two-person crew to make a round trip to the Red Planet in just 501 days. But, despite the relatively short journey time, a space capsule would still need to find space for nearly two year's worth of food and nearly two year's worth of excrement, as well as keeping the travellers protected from harmful radiation.

The solution to that problem is lining the walls of the craft initially with food and water, then gradually with dried human poop.

"It's a little queasy sounding, but there's no place for that material to go, and it makes great radiation shielding," said Taber MacCallum, chief technology officer of the Inspiration Mars team, to New Scientist.

The process involved takes advantage of a technology called Water Walls where the spaceship is lined with polyethylene bags which can recover water from waste via osmosis. The water itself would create a 40cm thick radiation shield which would then be augmented by the food and dried faeces.

McCallum explained that the process involved would "dehydrate [solid and liquid waste] as much as possible, because we need to get the water back". After recovering as much water as possible, "those solid waste products get put into a bag, put right back against the wall".

Other potential applications for the Water Walls technology on the Mars mission include dealing with excess carbon dioxide in the sealed environment, providing space for growing algae as food, and temperature regulation.

Impregnating the aluminium shell of the craft would offer another layer of protection, while keeping the upper stage of the launch vehicle coupled to the shuttle would allow for a makeshift shield in the event of solar flares during the journey.

The Inspiration Mars mission is currently set for launch on 5 January, 2018.

[mongers]

I think either Timmay or myself did this a couple of weeks ago. 

[Malthus]

I think either Timmay or myself did this a couple of weeks ago. 

When spacemen line their room with poo, it's a rational decision ... 

[HVC]

The monkeys in the space program were way ahead of their time.

[grumbler]

I think either Timmay or myself did this a couple of weeks ago. 

When spacemen line their room with poo, it's a rational decision ...