Astronauts, of course, are very brave, intelligent and successful people, but they are still people, not supermen. Therefore, even being in space, they, like any other person, need to walk "small" and "big" from time to time. NASA began training the first astronauts in the early 1960s. And interestingly, at that time, the agency was not very worried about how astronauts would empty their bladders and intestines while in zero gravity. The main task was to send a person into space and, if possible, return him back to Earth. Everything else faded into the background.
When Alan Shepard, the first American to complete a suborbital space flight, was forced to empty his bladder directly into a spacesuit at the launch pad in 1961, NASA finally realized that lack of planning could be a huge problem.
The agency had to think more carefully about how astronauts would go to the toilet in space, but NASA's decision was very difficult. After the completion of the Apollo missions in 1975, the agency's engineers admitted that defecation and urination "are very annoying and problematic aspects that accompany every space travel."
Over the next years, NASA experts have proposed many ways to solve the problem: from urinals and diapers to hanging toilets and full-fledged toilet systems worth 19 million dollars, although not developed by NASA. Now “walking out of necessity” in space has become much more comfortable, but there was a time when this process looked more like torture, not relief.
Retired astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has spent 665 days and 22 hours in space, an absolute record for the longest time spent in space among women, and among all NASA astronauts, recently admitted that going to the toilet in space was for her the least enjoyable part of work. in microgravity.
How NASA's first astronaut went right under him
When Alan Shepard, the first human in US history, went into space on May 5, 1961, NASA's plans did not include the possibility that this person might want to use the toilet at the most crucial moment. The planned flight duration was only about 15 minutes. However, the agency’s engineers did not consider how much time Shepard could actually spend inside the spacecraft, waiting for the launch.
Promotional video:
Astronaut Alan Shepard next to the capsule of the spacecraft "Mercury" after landing.
Everything went well for a while, but then Shepard felt his bladder filling up very uncomfortably. The mission team to send the first American into space insisted that the astronaut remain in place, so Shepard made it clear to MCC that he was going to go in a small way right under him. And he went.
After this incident, NASA began to think about equipping astronauts with the means to go to the toilet at any time of the space mission. The first urine bags looked like huge roll-up condoms and came in three different sizes. Needless to say, the device was intended only for male use? There was no talk of any female astronauts at the time.
Space urine collector.
Made of latex, the urine bag was connected to a plastic tube, a valve on the spacesuit with a special clip, and a special urine bag. The system was far from perfect and sometimes leaked. However, these urine bags were used, for example, by John Glenn in the first for the United States orbital space flight, the Mercury-Atlas-6 mission. The flight duration was 4 hours 55 minutes.
In the days of Gemini, the second space flight program in the 1960s, NASA began to think about how to allow astronauts to walk "big." It should be noted that the first devices intended for this looked like ordinary bags stuck to the fifth point of the astronauts.
The device that was used in the Apollo program was not much better or more convenient, since it still used the bag system. As a result, going to the toilet in space has always been a real adventure. On this occasion, NASA even kept a report on how many times this or that astronaut went to the toilet as part of the next Apollo mission.
A story with floating something
In 1969, during the Apollo 10 mission, an incident occurred that had been hiding in the archives of history for a long time, far from the eyes of a common man in the street. During a flight around the moon, three astronauts complained about a hideous flying object inside the spacecraft. The following dialogue took place between them:
Later, for the astronauts of the Apollo missions, NASA developed a "built-in faeces collection system" system, since of course it was impossible to use packages in outer space. The system was looked and described as "a pair of shorts with multiple layers of absorbent material." In practice, NASA created space diapers that, according to the agency, "were able to absorb any excrement."
Equipping ships with the first toilets did not solve all the problems
So the era of space shuttles came, and with them women came into space and, finally, toilets! In order for female astronauts to cope with small needs during launch and spacewalks, NASA developed the Disposable Absorption Containment Trunk system, which represented the same shorts with several absorbent layers.
Such a diaper could absorb up to 3.75 cups of urine.
Space shuttles have begun to be equipped with real Waste Collection System toilets, each worth $ 50,000. Nevertheless, it was not easy to use them in zero gravity. The hole in the toilet bowl was only 10 centimeters in diameter, which was about a quarter of the hole in the Earth's counterpart. In order to use such a toilet, astronauts were trained on Earth for several months. In some cases, an installed camera was used under the seat, which helped to better "aim".
Space shuttle toilet simulator.
Of course, no toilet paper was included here. She could create an additional source of pollution.
Astronaut Mike Massimino once said that he used handrails to fit comfortably on a space toilet. In the end, everything looked as if the astronaut was holding onto the handles of a chopper (an American motorcycle with an extended frame). Today's astronauts and cosmonauts working aboard the International Space Station have far more amenities. Toilets use vacuum instead of water. Solid waste is collected in special mesh plastic bags, which are stored for some time in aluminum 20-liter containers. The filled containers are transferred to the Progress transport cargo ship for further disposal. After suction, the liquid waste is collected using a special hose with a nozzle, which can be used by both men and women, and then transferred to the regeneration system,restoring them to the state of drinking water, which is used in the technical circuit of the station.
Samantha Cristoforetti, Italian astronaut of the European Space Agency, demonstrates a bag for collecting solid waste.
Former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, who has been in space more than any other NASA astronaut, told Business Insider that she is in zero gravity, soaring - great, but going to the toilet is a hassle.
ISS problems
Modern toilets aboard the ISS are very efficient at collecting and disposing of liquid waste: about 80-85 percent of this waste is recycled to the state of clean drinking water, explains the former astronaut. However, according to the woman astronaut, NASA could figure out how to make space toilets even more convenient and efficient.
When going into outer space, modern astronauts use Maximum Absorption Garment, which is a tight-fitting underpants that absorb everything that comes out of a person. Previously, this underwear for NASA astronauts was produced by Absorbancies, but it no longer exists, but the agency still has stocks of a pre-purchased item.
The history of the modern toilet on the ISS is also not without sin. In May 2008, the most important part of the station went out of order. Fortunately, the functionality of the device was partially preserved - the system could collect solid waste. A little later, a Soyuz docked to the ISS, which also had a toilet (but of limited capacity). To cope with minor needs, astronauts again had to resort to already forgotten packages.
At that time, the media reported that the breakdown of the toilet was a real disaster, since there was only one such system at the station. Six months later, a full-fledged bathroom, bought from Russia for $ 19 million, was brought to the ISS, and it was installed in the American module "Calm". The new toilet was delivered by the space shuttle Endeavor as part of the STS-126 mission. The Russian system has independent channels for the collection of solid and liquid waste.
New technologies expand opportunities
Last year, NASA held a competition to develop a portable system that will allow astronauts to go to the toilet while in spacesuits, for example, on a long flight to Mars. The device in the photo below won the first prize of $ 15,000.
The system implies the presence of a small connecting hole in the crotch area of the suit, to which it will be possible to connect tubes and bags for collecting liquid and solid waste. If the description is to be believed, the system even allows the astronaut to change underwear without having to remove the suit.
Device developer Thatcher Cardone worked day and night with his wife and children to create a working prototype.
NASA says they are not yet ready to fully use Cardon's portable waste disposal system in their current spacesuits, but in the future, the agency may adopt "some features" of the device when developing future spacesuits.
Cardone believes that a similar valve design on the suits could be very useful in the future. For example, if emergency medical operations are required.
Nikolay Khizhnyak