Malaysian Boy, 9, Invents Solution to NASA’s ‘#1 Problem’

November 5, 2020

A 9-year-old boy from Malaysia may have solved one of the biggest dilemmas on NASA’s plate.

Easy peasy: Zyson Kang Zy Sun invented the “Spacesuit Lunar Toilet,” a portable toilet specially designed for astronauts, which would allow them to urinate in zero gravity, reported the New Straits Times.

The contraption does not need batteries and instead works by creating a vacuum that can siphon liquids excreted by the body.
It fits inside an astronaut’s spacesuit and is fairly easy to use while moving around inside space stations.
To remove the urine, an astronaut simply needs to move their legs once they’ve finished.
The movement lets the urine flow down straight into a container fitted in the astronaut’s boots where it is siphoned into a disposable container.

Top prize: Zyson’s design, which NASA may use in their future manned space missions, recently bested over 897 participants from 85 countries at the prestigious Lunar Loo Challenge 2020 (Junior Category).

Zyson’s coach Chong Soo Sheong shared that Zyson began the project in June and submitted the model to NASA for evaluation in August.
“On Oct. 29, NASA invited him to present his model at a webinar,” noted the 43-year-old coach. “The NASA team was impressed by the simplicity of his model.”
According to Chong, the portable toilet can be utilized by other professionals, including COVID-19 frontliners working on emergency cases.
He also shared that Zyson wants to become a geneticist someday, revealing the qualities that made the young inventor a natural scientist.
“Zyson has a knack for inventions,” the coach said. “He is an avid reader with an extremely curious mind. Science simply excites him, especially astronomy.”

Featured Image Screenshots via ZYSON’s InnoCreation

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