Recycling Exhaled CO2 for Spacecraft

Life support on the International Space Station and other manned spacecraft yields a methane byproduct that is vented to space. The sponsor’s methane pyrolysis reactor allows this waste methane to be reclaimed by transforming it into useful hydrogen and a solid carbon composite material. A storage box was designed and built from the carbon material with few additional resources. It is constructed out of six square carbon pieces adhered to a fabric base, which can be oriented to form a cubic container. The design employs the carbon material in an application that is appropriate to the spacecraft environment and could be used by astronauts on a trip home from Mars.It can also make use of other waste products that have reached the end of their lifetime usability, such as astronaut clothing. The box designed is simple, collapsible for easy storage, and easily scalable depending on intended use. Astronauts will be able to store experimental samples, food and other items in carbon boxes produced while breathing into a life support system that produces almost no waste.