How Astronauts Go To The Bathroom In Space

While the soyuz spacecraft had an onboard toilet facility since its introduction in 1967 due to the additional space in the orbital module all gemini and apollo spacecraft required astronauts to urinate in a so called relief tube in which the contents were dumped into space an example would be the urine dump scene in the movie apollo 13 while fecal matter was collected in specially designed bags.

How astronauts go to the bathroom in space. How they managed to go is the most common question astronauts are asked says mike mullane a veteran of three space shuttle missions and author of do your ears pop in space and 500 other. Things have changed and nowadays there are shower units on the international space station. After the astronauts are done the faeces gets sealed up.

Retired station commander peggy whitson who s spent more time in space than any other nasa astronaut told business insider that floating is great but going to the bathroom in space is not. Astronauts go through positional training on earth to make sure solid waste goes directly into the narrow opening of these space toilets roberts explained. How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space.

The mock toilet has a camera at the. Astronauts jump into a round curtained chamber to shower. Going to the bathroom becomes even more challenging when astronauts take a walk outside their spacecraft.

Astronauts in spacesuits go to the bathroom in high tech diapers called maximum absorption garments but the international space station use a 19 million dollar toilet that uses suction for pooping in plastic bags and in a hose for urine that s recycled into drinking water to be used by the crew. These diapers are able to hold up to a quart of liquid. Iss residents go to the bathroom into a little plate sized hole on top of that silver can using the fan to vacuum suck the excrement away.

When they re done the machine suctions up all the water droplets from their shower. For nasa astronauts there are actually two space shuttle toilet stations in the training room a positional trainer for practice and a functional trainer which flushes.