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To: Blue Snowshoe who wrote (57)	9/16/1999 2:08:00 PM
From: AugustWest	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 136

Oh my god! He could be in London! news.excite.com Spacecraft Could Use Human Waste For Fuel Updated 4:58 PM ET September 15, 1999 LONDON (Reuters) - Future spacecraft could find an alternative energy supply in the crew's human waste, New Scientist magazine said Wednesday. U.S. space agency NASA is sponsoring a joint project to turn human waste into a power source for spaceships using a process that could also produce other chemicals useful on board. Normally, burning organic molecules such as those found in feces results in their combining with oxygen in the air to produce carbon dioxide and water. Scientists have found that breaking down the waste by heating it in the absence of oxygen forms smaller molecules including liquids or gases which can be used as energy. "You can use human waste as well as other waste, like scrap plastic bags," said Jim Markham, CEO of Advanced Fuel Research which is carrying out the tests with NASA. And there's no need to worry about variations in the consistency and content of the waste material, as the equipment can handle it. "It's tailored to unpredictable mixtures," Markham said. "Ideally, you'd dial in the desired outcome and it would compensate." This new idea follows a Russian project which aims to use bacteria to break down the astronauts' used underwear to make methane, which could then be used to power the spacecraft.