Astronaut Excrement as a Fuel Source



 

For the first time, the United Nations is planning to make its mark in space with an international satellite designed to promote science education and international cooperation in the sciences. But the $5 million satellite (UNESCOSat) won't go up alone--it will be accompanied by a number of payloads, including two from the Florida Institute of Technology filled with bacteria. Why?

The first payload is intended to examine the effects of Shewanella MR-1 (a bacteria) in a microgravity environment to determine its suitability for long-term space travel.

The goal is, to put it bluntly, to see if Shewanella can convert astronaut feces into hydrogen for use in onboard fuel cells. "The bacteria generates hydrogen. If we give waste to bacteria, it converts to hydrogen that could be used in a fuel cell. We're looking at how reliable the bacteria are," explains Donald Platt, the Program Director for the Space Sciences and Space Systems Program at the Florida Institute of Technology. Shewanella's viability will be determined based on its growth rate in space--figuring out, in other words, how different its life cycle is in space than it is on Earth.

The satellite is expected to launch in the first half of 2011 and stay in orbit for up to five years.

Complete news.