This 9-Year-Old Malaysian Has Solved NASA's Zero Gravity Toilet Problem

Zyson Kang Zy Sun is the champion of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Lunar Loo Challenge 2020 in the junior category.

According to New Straits Times, Kang's 'Spacesuit Lunar Toilet' can be installed into an astronaut's spacesuit and works around microgravity in space by creating a vacuum to suck up liquids.

All astronauts have to do is to move their legs and press on a syringe attached to their boots to create a suction force to siphon out the human wastes from the discharge points to a container.

43-year-old Chong Soo Sheong, who has been coaching Kang at the I Discovery World science centre in Shah Alam, said the young inventor's winning design was no fluke.

"Zyson has a knack for inventions. He is an avid reader with an extremely curious mind. Science simply excites him, especially astronomy," Chong said.

Chong said Kang embarked on the project in June, before submitting his model to the NASA team for evaluation in August.

"On 29 October, NASA invited him to present his model at a webinar. The NASA team was impressed by the simplicity of his model."

"The toilet does not require batteries or an electricity supply. When you move your legs, the urine will flow down into a container in the astronaut's boots."

"This design can not only be used on the moon, [but] it also can be used as a medical toilet," the nine-year-old told one of the panelists, who was smitten by Kang's adorable delivery.

"Since we are now in a pandemic, sometimes doctors and nurses need to pee or poop. So they can just do it (with the device) even when they are saving people."

To elaborate further, Chong said that Kang's invention could help medical professionals to relieve themselves during an emergency without having to remove their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

While he is now a successful inventor, Kang said he aspires to become a geneticist in the future.