Human urine could be key to putting buildings on the moon, space agency says

So you’ve landed on the moon but all of that space exploration has made you thirsty. You reach for a big bottle of water and gulp it all down hastily.

Suddenly, you feel the urge to pee but where do you go? You’re in space now and toilets just seem so... planet Earth.

Fear not – collect your liquid waste and get your best hard hat on because you’re now ready to build some space structures!

According to the European Space Agency, human urine can be used to create “concrete” on the moon.

A study published on 8 May found that urea – the main organic compound in urine – could help form the mixture for “lunar concrete”.

The agency said in a statement:

Thanks to future lunar inhabitants, the 1.5 liters (3.2 pints) of liquid waste a person generates each day could become a promising by-product for space exploration.

The main ingredient is powdery soil found on the moon’s surface known as lunar regolith.

Combining this with urine would limit the amount of water necessary in the recipe of using 3D printer-like machines to create buildings.

This means fewer materials would need to be brought from Earth, while waste management is also partly taken care of.

The hope is that astronaut urine could be essentially used as it is on a future lunar base, with minor adjustments to the water content. This is very practical, and avoids the need to further complicate the sophisticated water recycling systems in space.

This new research sure sounds like a number one small step for man and one giant leak for mankind.