Everybody poops, including astronauts. In fact, the first picture Neil Armstrong ever snapped from the surface of the moon shows a jettisoned waste bag that may well contain poop. The Apollo crews left a total of 96 bags of waste, including urine and feces, across their six landing sites, which are still sitting there to this day: a celestial reminder that wherever humans go, we bring our shit with us.
launched the Lunar Loo Challenge in 2020, which called on the global community to submit “their novel design concepts for compact toilets that can operate in both microgravity and lunar gravity.” The winning concept, entitled Translunar Hypercritical Repository 1, or THRONE, was inspired in part by the diaper genie product that will be familiar to many parents of toddlers, which seals waste in plastic as soon as it is disposed, to reduce smell.
’s aim is to minimize any potential impacts to the lunar surface, says Michael Rapley, Human Landing System crew compartment deputy manager at