NASA Alternate Fecal Canister Development and Design for Exploration Missions

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) developed a collapsible canister for the collection and containment of fecal deposits on long range exploration missions as well as on space stations where mass and volume are of great impact on spacecraft and propulsion designs. Developed as an alternative to the exploration toilet hard-sided canister, the container is a smaller volume for stowage in the unfilled state which allows better use of constrained volume on smaller vehicles for longer missions while still providing the important features of odor and solid/liquid contents containment when in the filled state. A reduction in mass was also achieved for the alternate fecal canister itself, although weight of the lid and contents are common to both designs, the hard-side canister, and the alternate fecal canister. Materials research for solutions which were collapsible, robust, attachable to the interface with the exploration toilet and still contained the contents were explored and included many commercially available products used for a wide range of other uses. Testing of materials identified as feasible included typical materials strength testing such as tear tests, puncture tests and strength tests as well as odor testing with donated fecal matter to best replicate the use case. Testing is this nature was not available in the literature and required coordination with safety, health, and privacy organizations for collection of the fecal donations from test subjects. Details of the work to research and evaluate a feasible solution for odor control, strength, liquid retention, and ability to be collapsed will be discussed as well as the overall development and design of the Alternate Fecal Canister (AFC) to be demonstrated on ISS with the existing exploration toilet.