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mmoossyesterday at 11:42 PM1 replyview on HN

Good points. A few hot takes:

> The air filtration will actually help spread aerosols because air currents will carry them through the cabin before they're captured by a filter.

The toilet facilities could have input / suction into the air filtration system. Maybe wise anyway.

> A high power "eliminate aerosols" mode would be one of those infrastructure things that need to be designed (and tested).

I expect the technology is mature in industrial settings, though of course that is much different than microgravity and the constrained resources of the spacecraft. Maybe it exists on the space station? That context still seems significantly different.

> a single compartment spacecraft like the Orion or Dragon wouldn't have anywhere for the crew to bivouac

In their spacesuits, though their exteriors may need decontamination. Maybe they just go outside, though probably not a great idea to have the entire crew outside the spacecraft simultaneously! Maybe in an emergency.


Replies

giantrobottoday at 5:01 AM

The Space Shuttle and ISS (and Orion) had/have microgravity toilets. They have some active suction and spinning tines that push the material against the walls of the containment vessel. The ISS toilet has changeable waste containers that are dumped in the unmanned supply capsules.

The Space Shuttle's toilet was just cleaned during servicing after a mission. The Shuttle had a max flight duration of about two weeks so there wasn't a need to have changeable waste containers.

In the case a toilet catastrophically malfunctions in microgravity imagine a snow globe. Whatever way you want to filter out the "snow"...it's going to land on everything inside.

In the most literal sense shit is serious in space.