The tasks of daily living that most of us take for granted are much more challenging to accomplish in outer space, especially those personal activities involving an astronaut’s privates. The question of how to capture human waste at zero Gs is so important in fact, that in 2007 NASA spent 19 million to address it, purchasing a state-of-the-art toilet system for the international space station; quite a bit more cash than even the most extravagant powder room on earth would cost.
*Why Do Astronauts Need Special Toilets?*
Why did NASA have to spend so much cash just to capture and dispose of human excrement? With zero-gravity conditions in space, waste won’t fall into a toilet. The toilet water and liquid and solid waste could not stay in the pot, but would just float around the space station loo weightless (Ewwwww!). The astronauts themselves would also float free, but when astronauts use the toilet they must first strap in, just to remain sitting on the toilet while doing their business.
*How Are Space Toilets Different from Earth Toilets?*
Without gravity, space toilets need to rely on suction (movement of air instead of water) to draw the waste into a holding container. The toilet bowl is for poop, and there must be a compete seal in order for the waste to move into the receptacle (Astronauts must get some serious toilet-seat rings on their fannies!) There is also a cup with a seal and hose attached that both male and female astronauts can use as a urinal.
*What if Astronauts Need to Go During a Spacewalk?*
During the most recent mission of Space Shuttle Atlantis, Hubble Service Mission 4, astronauts had to complete five spacewalks in order to make the needed repairs and upgrades to Hubble. Most of those spacewalks spanned seven hours or more, so you may wonder, “What if an astronaut has to poop or pee while on the job?” The answer to this one is pretty low-tech. They wear diapers. NASA, of course, doesn’t call them diapers. That wouldn’t be technical enough. Instead, an astronaut’s nappy is called a MAG (maximum absorption garment).
* The #1 Space Recycling Technology *
With efficiency at a premium in outer space, even urine is put to work and changed from a waste to a resource. The international space station now has equipment for purifying the liquid portion of urine to a point where it can be used as drinking water for the space station residents.
Interested in learning more about the special challenges to living in space? The following links provide more detail:
NASA has a detailed ares of their official website devoted to Living in Space
Orlando Sentinel, “NASA Space Station Crew Drink Recycled Urine”
Washington Post, “Ever Wonder How Astronauts Pee in Space?”
