Multipurpose Waste Disposal Bags for Heat Melt Compactor Application

NASA's crewed spacecraft utilize storage containers for food water, supplies, trash and treated wastes. The trash bags occupy considerable vehicle storage and handling is a challenge to crewmembers. In order to reduce volume of the trash, microbial growth control and water recovery from trash, NASA has developed a heat melt compactor (HMC) device. In the Phase I project, a multipurpose trash bag that is compatible with HMC was demonstrated. The trash bag allowed for the recovery of water from waste and encapsulation of the solid waste after water recovery. In addition, the processed waste was protected against microbial growth for storing during long-term flights. The multifunctional trash bag developed in this Phase I project, benefits NASA in volume reduction, water recovery, radiation shielding and mitigation of contamination release in space.