It's a good day to be an astronaut!(Photo: NASA/Carla Cioffi)

NASA recently turned to the public to find a solutionthat will allowastronauts to poop while stuck in their space suits for up to six days.

More than 5,000 solutions from 19,000 competitors were submitted to the Space Poop Challenge, which was organized by NASA Tournament Lab, and overseen by HeroX, a crowdsourcing competition platform.

"As astronauts travel farther into the solar system, explorers may need to remain in their suits for several days on their way back to Earth in the event of an emergency situation," NASA said in a statement."This challenge sought solutions for fecal, urine, and menstrual management systems for the crews launch and entry suits."

On Wednesday, the winners were announced. With the grand prize of $15,000 going to Thatcher Cardon, a family physician, and flight surgeon. He won the challenge for his MACES Perineal Access & Toileting System (M-PATS).

Cardon told NPR his design was inspired by minimally invasive surgical techniques that can do some amazing things in very small openings.

"I never thought that keeping the waste in the suit would be any good," Cardon told NPR. "So I thought, 'How can we get in and out of the suit easily?

Cardons design features an airlock at the crotch of the suit, which will allow items like inflatable bedpans and diapers to be passed through, NPR reported.

While crew members currently wear diapers that are adequate for a few hours, NASA needed a long-term solution in case crew members were forced to stay in their spacesuits for up to six days.

As humans travel to the moon and Mars, we will have many problems to solve some are as simple as how do we go to the bathroom in space, it isnt glamorous, but it is necessary for survival, Astronaut Richard Mastracchio said in an October video about the competition.

The other Space Poop Challenge winners included a team of three from Houston who took home $10,000, and Hugo Shelly, who took home $5,000 for a design called "SWIMSuit - Zero Gravity Underwear."

NASA will use "aspects of the winning designs to develop future waste management systems for use in the suit, Kirstyn Johnson, spacesuit engineer at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement.

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NASA getting closer to solving 'space poop' problem - USA TODAY