Theres a ton of space-related news dominating the headlines right now.
One might start with:How, exactly, do they go to the bathroom up there?
What is the primary barrier to traditional bathroom use in space?
We all get it.
In space, where there is less gravity, you float.
Tanya Harrison, a planetary scientist, told Lifehacker that on the Space Station, astronauts exist in microgravity.
It follows, then, that excrement floats, too, which sounds terrible.
Harrison pointed out that this very thinghappenedduring the Apollo 10 mission in 1969.
Per official transcripts from the mission, Commander Tom Stafford said, Theres a turd floating through the air.
As they moved to clean it up, the astronauts on board quibbled over to whom said turd belonged.
To this day, the mystery is unsolved.
So, how do astronauts pee up there?
Look, youre not the first person to question this.
Harrison said she gets asked about how astronauts use the bathroom all the time and it ranges all ages.
Everybody wants to know how this works because its something that we can all relate to.
This is one of lifes great equalizers.
Too bad for Shepard, but at least he got a super-cool claim to fame out of the mission.
These days, plenty of people go into space, so provisions are necessary on longer trips.
In 2018, NASA spent $23 million improving the bathroom situation, creating a special vacuum system.
This involves a hose with a funnel at the end.
Is that as convenient as just sitting down on or standing over a toilet Earthside?
It depends how you view convenience, we suppose, but its certainly novel.
And as for pooping in space?
Pooping is a little different.
That $23 million vacuum toilet has a special function for solid waste.
It looks a lot like a regular toilet, in fact, and features a raised seat.
(Can you imagine?)
Its not a glamorous process, Harrison said.
As Gregg notes, It didnt work very well and was hard to keep clean.
Where does bodily waste go in space?
Ignorance can be bliss.
But, of course, waste has to gosomewhere.
To be super clear, there were people on that boat and those people experienced a shit shower.
All of that said, whats the deal in space?
There are no rivers to pollute, right?
Does the vacuum-toilet just toss the waste out into the great unknown to float around forever, appalling aliens?
Per Gregg, astronauts even have a little saying about this: Todays coffee is tomorrows coffee.
All in the name of science, baby!
Still, she admitted, Even as a scientist, it kind of grosses me out a little bit.
As for poop, while it can be brought back to Earth to be studied, its typically burned.
