A call by Nasa for donations of urine so it can create the perfect space lavatory has been leaked, resulting in a flood of offers.
The US space programme said it was seeking urine from workers at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, as part of its work on the new Orion space capsule.
The Orion will eventually take astronauts to the moon, according to an internal memo posted on the Web site Nasawatch.com.
Designers of the Orion, which will park unoccupied in space for up to six months while astronauts work on the moon, have to solve a pressing issue of getting rid of stored urine, said John Lewis, Nasa's head of life support systems for Orion.
To design, build and test the systems, Nasa needs nearly 8 gallons of urine every day - about the total daily output of 30 people.
"Urine is a mess because urine is full of solids," Mr Lewis said. Those solids clog the venting system for dumping urine which meant keeping the waste disposal system clear is "really a challenge," he added.
Nasa has a long-standing tradition of collecting samples from its workers to help design better space toilets because "you can't make fake urine," Mr Lewis said.
The memo seeking daily contributions from July 21 to July 31, contains detailed instructions for participants, but was not meant to go public.
It requests donors do not drink too much to encourage urination, warning that "you are not encouraged to over-hydrate as this could dilute the urine we collect".
"Unlike in the doctor's office, you do not need to worry about starting collection midstream," the memo states. "Our testing will be much more accurate if you collect as much of the entire urination as possible including the beginning."
It also calls for urine to be fresh, no more than an hour old. "We suggest that morning urine be collected at home, but not night-time urine," the memo states.
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