Waste of space: The problem of having to transport vast quantities of water and oxygen into space could be solved by a system that recycles an astronaut's waste

摘要

A EUROPEAN-DEVELOPED processing plant designed for recycling human waste could be at the heart of future manned space missions to Mars and beyond, The Engineer has learned. Inaugurated earlier this month at Barcelona's Autonoma University, the so-called Melissa system (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) uses a suite of technologies largely borrowed from the process industry to recover food, water and oxygen from waste products, including faeces, urine, and carbon dioxide.