NASA's new $23 million space toilet is ready for launch - Space.com

The upgraded toilet could be used on moon flights one day.

NASA is launching a new space toilet to the International Space Station next week for astronauts to test out before it’s used on future missions to the moon or Mars. .

The $23 million toilet system, known as the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), is 65% smaller and 40% lighter than the toilet currently in use on the space station, and can support larger crews.

The toilet will launch to the space station aboard a Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo capsule on Sept.

The system will be installed adjacent to the current toilet in Node 3 of the space station, NASA Advanced Exploration Systems Logistics Reduction project manager Melissa McKinley said during a news conference Thursday (Sept. 24).

The space toilet's advanced design includes a urine funnel and seat that is created to be more accommodating for female crew members.

The toilet also has an automatic starting system, rather than an on and off switch like current toilet models on the space station. .

The new system will be used routinely by the crew on the space station and tested over the next three years to make sure everything works as planned.