What kind of sewage systems do they have in outer space?
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There is a significant problem when it comes to going to the bathroom in outer space: there’s no gravity. And astronauts don’t just have to poop inside a space shuttle or space station either. They would also need to go while out on a spacewalk too.
What on earth is the solution?
Well, the solution, while created on earth, is not one designed for use on terra firma. From the very beginning, NASA has spent money on researching ways to find hygienically safe ways of waste disposal in space, and finding ways to help astronauts use the toilet as comfortably as possible while in zero-gravity.
Getting around gravity, space toilets rely on differential air pressure to remove waste.
The toilets in space look very different to the ones back here on earth. Essentially, they have to function as wastewater treatment plants as urine is often recycled and treated for reuse.
The toilets themselves have smaller seats, allowing a tight seal to be formed between seat and buttocks. A vacuum begins to work instantly, removing solid waste from the bowl so that it can be compacted. Liquid waste is collected via funnels for the ladies and cones for the gentlemen. The liquid is sucked away from the body and directed to the urine chamber.
And for spacewalks? Astronauts may be out on a spacewalk for hours at a time with absolutely no access to a toilet, and it’s not as if they can just go in the cold vacuum of space. The solution: adult diapers. These diapers are also used during take off and landing to avoid any interstellar bathroom mishaps.
Included in the gruelling training that astronauts have to undergo is toilet training. Yup. They have to learn to use a toilet in anti-gravity for one thing, and secondly, they need to learn how to use the very different space toilet. This training is done with a rather undignified training toilet with a camera under the seat to help astronauts position themselves correctly.
It is said that there is an astronaut joke about today’s coffee becoming tomorrow’s coffee. As for solid waste, this is compacted, placed in a capsule and jettisoned out into space.
While the idea of floating space poop is not appealing, these waste disposal capsules do get burned up in earth’s atmosphere as they fall from space. Makes one wonder if that beautiful shooting star was actually a meteor or space poop re-entering the atmosphere.
