quote:"The No. 1 need right now for some of the builders of the United States' next spaceship: Lots of No. 1."
Seth Borenstein, your wit F A I L S.
Why vent it into space? On a small capsule like that, why not recycle it? Didn't they invent a machine/process to do just that quite recently?
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
I think so...before you know it, we'll have machines that turn poop into boots.
Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
Yer on the moon for craps sake, open the flap and set it free!!
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Yeah but why waste valuable water? You can't exactly traipse down to the Sea of Tranquility and fill a bucket, can you? No, you see, it isn't that kind of sea, if you can dig it.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
They don't recycle it because the equipment necessary to do that is probably too big and/or heavy, taking up valuable space and cargo mass. The gains in this situation most likely do not outweigh the costs.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Yeah, but as I mentioned, NASA recently invented a compact cheap way to recycle urine...I think. I read an article about it recently though of course I don't have it right here to support my argument cuz that'd be too convenient...It could be that it was an article about a proposed or theoretical process, I guess.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Sounds like what you're talking about. I just googled NASA urine recycler, and this was the third site they gave me.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Meh. Pour a little Tang in there, and they'll never know the difference.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
They still make Tang? Gosh, I haven't had that in years.
I wonder if the "space food" they eat creats different waste products, or at least has a different effect on their systems than normal food? Like, maybe more of a certain mineral or chemical in their urine? I had some of the freeze-dried icecream they eat during a trip to D.C., and I was remarkable constipated for the next day. All those preservatives, and binders can't be too good for you, for an extremely long period of time. Obviously astronauts can survive on it for the duration of time they are in space, but I wonder what would happen if you ate nothing but that for a few years?
Posted by shikaru808 (Member # 2080) on :
I've always wondered if the food in their stomachs floated around and made them feel nauseous. But that's just me.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Remember the whole Cola Wars / First Taste in Space thing back around 1985? There's a reason you haven't heard of them taking carbonated drinks into space since then - the first time they burped, it all came back up!
Posted by shikaru808 (Member # 2080) on :
quote:Originally posted by B.J.: Remember the whole Cola Wars / First Taste in Space thing back around 1985? There's a reason you haven't heard of them taking carbonated drinks into space since then - the first time they burped, it all came back up!
I can't say I have. I didn't even exist back in the 80's. But interesting fact.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
I've got the poster back at my parents' house that Coca Cola put out after they "won".
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I don't think food would float in your stomach in space because your stomach, being elastic, would be holding it all tightly together. But maybe if there was enough air in there.
Is 'space food' different from regular freeze-dried stuff? I didn't think it had any extra preservatives and binding agents in it; I thought the water was simply removed to save weight.
Posted by Sean (Member # 2010) on :
Even if it "all natural", I'd be willing to bet that it is vitamine enhanced to help make up for the foods that they are not eating on a regular basis, like fresh fruit and vegetables. And I'd assume that some of the foods have a binging agent, because with the icecream especially, if you freeze dry it, all you get is powder. The stuff I had was a bar of freeze-dried icecream, so I'm assuming that there is something holding the powder together.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
Good point; I hadn't thought of that. I've had lots of that freeze-dried ice cream, actually; you can order it online. It's delicioussss.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
You know, these days astronauts eat the same thing you do. The whole food pill aesthetic is more of an Apollo thing.
Gasp, tortillas in space?? The crazy anti-immigrant group that sends me press releases at work won't like that.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I thought it was about saving weight? Recycle the water and you don't have to lift as much into orbit?
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
Ah, but you do have to lift the recycling equipment into orbit. It's all about trade-offs.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Sol System wrote:
quote:Gasp, tortillas in space??
I can see the movie poster already.
Regarding Kosh's remark about opening the space-flap of your space-pants on the moon and taking the space-dump, what if the air in the suit escapes through your throat, bowels and out the O-ring? Wouldn't that hurt? *confused* Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I'M SICK OF THESE MUTHAFUCKIN TORTILLAS ON THIS MUTHAFUCKIN SPACE SHUTTLE!
![[Confused]](confused.gif)