NASA LOOKING TO FIND WASTE SOLUTIONS FOR SPACE TRAVELERS

The following excerpt is from the NASA website:
NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the State 
Department and Nike today announced a challenge to identify 10 
game-changing innovations that could transform waste-management 
systems and practices. Waste management is important for planning 
long-duration human spaceflight missions to an asteroid, Mars or 
beyond. 

Humans living off the planet require waste solutions that mirror 
issues facing people on Earth. In the hostile environment of space, 
waste must be eliminated or transformed in the most efficient and 
cost-effective manner possible. The innovations, which will be 
presented at the LAUNCH: Beyond Waste forum, may lead to practical 
applications for astronauts as we send humans deeper into our solar 
system. 

The challenge will be open April 1-May 15 and will seek creative 
solutions to minimize waste or transform it into new products in 
space and on Earth. Forum partners will select 10 innovators to 
present their technology solutions at the LAUNCH: Beyond Waste forum, 
hosted by NASA July 20-22, at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory 
in Pasadena, Calif. 

NASA and the LAUNCH Council -- thought leaders representing a diverse 
and collaborative body of entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, 
government, media and business -- will participate in the forum and 
help guide these innovations forward. The selected LAUNCH innovators 
will receive networking and mentoring opportunities from influential 
business and government leaders, as well as portfolio presentations. 

Previous LAUNCH forums have focused on water, health and energy. These 
forums resulted in innovations, including technology that enables 
irrigation using brackish, saline and polluted water; a biodegradable 
needle that can deliver vaccines or medicine under the skin using a 
pressure device; a tiny holographic microscope attached to a cell 
phone that can detect parasites and bacteria in blood and water in 
remote locations; a handheld lab-in-a-box that diagnoses a variety of 
diseases in a matter of minutes; a modular, flexible smart-grid 
distribution technology to provide access to power for those in need; 
and a simple, affordable fuel cell that converts biomass directly to 
electricity. 

LAUNCH was created to identify, showcase and support innovative 
approaches to global sustainability challenges. LAUNCH searches for 
visionaries whose ideas, technologies or programs show great promise 
for making tangible impacts on society in the developed and 
developing worlds.