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The Space Poop Challenge

12/1/2016

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Just a few weeks before a holiday break!  You might be able to get a unit started or complete one.  Remember, some students might leave for the holiday early – because 12/23/16 is a Friday, you’ll probably have most or all of that week!
 

The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you --
Order Now.  It’s a great resource!
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
*Some of you have already purchased my lab book – be sure to check out Page 141 !
“In space, no one can hear you flush. This is because in space, there are no toilets. While you may go about your life mostly unaffected by this, it is more of a challenge for our brave astronauts in their space suits. 
After all: when you gotta go, you gotta go. And sometimes you gotta go in a total vacuum.”

https://herox.com/SpacePoop
 
“Currently, astronauts who need to evacuate their bowels during rocket launches or spacewalks, which could take up to eight hours, rely on absorbent diapers. But diapers are not viable long-term solutions when astronauts venture into the lunar orbit or beyond. Should it become necessary to keep astronauts alive for days within a spacesuit, diapers pose too large a risk of irritation or infection. The system must work with the Modified Advanced Crew
Escape Suit, the suit NASA plans to use on the future Orion craft missions to deep space.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/29/pooping-in-deep-space-has-nasa-stumped-the-space-poop-challenge-is-your-way-to-help/
This link contains two brief videos (3 and 7 minutes) describing The Space Poop challenge.
 
This topic should sufficiently gross out your students to keep their attention.
“NASA Deep Space Poop Challenge seeks solutions for urine collection of up to 1L per day per crew member, for a total of 6 days and fecal collection at 75 grams per day.  Menstrual collection systems should handle up to 80 mL over 6 days. The collection mechanism should work in microgravity environment.
NASA will award the Solutions it judges to be the most promising for implementation and use on missions in the next three or four years.  NASA will consider collaborating with winners and/or other competitors, subject to NASA rules and regulations for contract procurement.”

http://tecake.in/news/space/tell-nasa-poop-deep-space-win-30000-26188.html
 
“What's needed is a 
system inside a space suit that collects human waste for up to 144 hours and routes it away from the body, without the use of hands. The system has to operate in the conditions of space - where solids, fluids, and gases float around in microgravity (what most of us think of as "zero gravity") and don't necessarily mix or act the way they would on earth. This system will help keep astronauts alive and healthy over 6 days, or 144 hrs.”
https://herox.com/SpacePoop/overview
 
“What You Can Do To Cause A Breakthrough
  • Read the complete challenge guidelines to see the rules and requirements for entry into the challenge.
  • “Accept Challenge” by by clicking the button above to compete in the challenge. 
  • Follow the challenge above to be notified of any status updates to the challenge.
  • Share this challenge on social media using the icons above. Show your friends, your family, or anyone you know who has a passion for discovery.
  • Start a conversation in our Forum to join the conversation, ask questions or connect with other innovators.”
https://herox.com/SpacePoop

You have to enter by Tuesday, December 20, 2017!  Here’s the countdown clock:  https://herox.com/SpacePoop/overview
Sorry about the short notice, but you can keep an eye on the developments!
 
“NASA said it aims to test the winning ideas in…[2017]… and roll out successful systems in the next three.”

http://time.com/4581854/nasa-space-poop-challenge/
 
“Throwing feces out an airlock is not an option, for a couple of reasons. One is that anything jettisoned from the spacecraft won’t go very far away without a substantial push. So if you throw something outside, it will simply follow your trajectory — any waste thrown "away" would follow you all the way to Mars. Pushing it away would mean something like opening an air lock with some air still in it, to provide a kind of explosive decompression. That would waste air.”

http://www.popsci.com/brief-history-pooping-in-space
 
“In the Apollo era [1967 through 1972], the toilet was a plastic bag attached to the astronauts’ butts with an adhesive. Urine was collected with a condom-like device and vented to space. Famously — or infamously — the last Mercury flight in 1963 actually suffered system failures because the urine collection bag leaked. Clearly, the bags didn’t work. Floating human waste is also a health hazard, since one can inhale tiny bits of urine or feces as they float around.”

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/index.html
 
"In general, the Apollo waste management system worked satisfactorily from an engineering standpoint," according to the biomedical review. ‘From the point of view of crew acceptance, however, the system must be given poor marks.’ “

http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/09/17674315-poop-in-space-revisited-apollo-10s-floating-turds-pop-up-44-years-later
 
Since outer space travel deals with low pressure environments, some Gas Law discussions might be useful; past blog posts include:
01/26/2014       Boyle’s Law
01/29/2014       Charles’ Law
02/02/2014       Gay Lussac’s Law
02/05/2014       Combined Gas Law
02/09/2014       Ideal Gas Law 
03/26/2014       Vapor Pressure, BP/FP, and Molality
11/07/2014       Molar Volume of a Gas
12/04/2014       Current Automobile Airbag Concerns         
01/07/2015       Atmospheric Pressure -- Current Story
01/14/2015       Charles' Law in Freezing Temperatures
01/21/2015       Gay-Lussac's Law Demonstration
01/28/2015       Computer Simulations of Gases
02/13/2016       Gases in Low Temperatures

03/05/2016       Science in "The Martian"
03/12/2016       Deflategate and The Gas Laws
 

*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, 
Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 

Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!
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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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