How Do You Go to the Bathroom In Space?

by William R. Pogue

  50. How did you wash dishes?

  Because we ate directly from plastic bags or cans, the only things that required cleaning were our tableware and food trays. These were wiped with tissues soaked with a mild disinfectant. The cans were crushed flat with a special food-can crusher and placed in a bag for disposal. We didn’t throw anything into space.

  51. What did you do with it (trash)?

  Skylab had a large tank (2,000 cubic feet) which was used as a trash disposal volume. We compacted our garbage as much as possible, placed it in a special bag, and forced it through a large tube into the special tank below the floor. The tube contained an airlock chamber to prevent loss of air when we opened the hatch to the tube. The assembly was called a trash airlock.

  The lid on the trash airlock began to cause difficulties on the second Skylab mission. The hatch became more and more difficult to latch in the closed position. On our mission, the problem became worse, and we were very concerned, because it was essential to get rid of the biodegradable garbage and waste (food residue and urine bags). We finally worked out a system whereby Jerry Carr would load the trash bag in the bin of the trash airlock and I would float above, holding onto the ceiling. As he closed the hatch, I would pull myself down sharply and stomp on the hatch lid while Jerry closed the locking lever. It sounds like a barnyard procedure, but it worked.

  52. How did you wash dirty clothes?

  We didn’t. When they got dirty, we threw them away. All waste was put into the large waste compartment at the rear of the space system. (See Question 51.)

  53. What kind of underwear did you wear?

  We wore standard manufactured briefs and T-shirts.

  54. Did you use space pajamas? How did you get dressed, put on your socks and shoes?

  We slept in our underwear. After we “weighed” ourselves each morning, we slipped on the Skylab T-shirts and trousers, and then floated into our shoes, which were left attached to the floor during the night. Because it was difficult to bend forward, we pulled our legs up to put on our socks and tie our shoes.

  55. What would happen if your glove came off your space suit during a space walk?

  All the air would have leaked out and the astronaut would have died.

  56. How did you keep from getting too hot or too cold on a space walk?

  We wore water-cooled long johns. Cool water was circulated through plastic tubing in this garment to remove body heat. We could control the water flow rate to keep us from getting too hot or too cold.

  57. Did you wear glasses?

  Yes. I took two pairs with me. I’m farsighted and needed glasses to read small print and indicators. I didn’t wear glasses while in the space suit.

  58. Can—may—astronauts wear contact lenses?

  NASA does not have a written policy regarding contact lenses. However there appears to be an unwritten policy against using contact lenses in flight. To date (March 1985) contact lenses have only been used as a part of an eye experiment (Shuttle flight number eight).

  59. Did you just float around when you slept?

  No. One member of our crew tried this once, but it didn’t work too well because he kept bumping into things. We slept in sleeping bags supported by a tubular metal frame that was strapped to the wall of the sleep compartment. We slipped into the sleeping bag feet-first through the neck holes. There were arm slits in the bag, so we could reach out. It had straps on the front and back that we could tighten to hold us in a steady, snug position, and there were extra sleeping bag wraps that could be zipped on for greater warmth. Airflow, light, and temperature could be controlled in each sleep compartment.

  60. How long did you sleep?

  About six hours was all we needed because we weren’t using a lot of physical energy performing our tasks in weightlessness.

  61. Was your sleep restful, the same as here on Earth?

  Yes, but I think there is a difference. Tests made on Skylab showed that there is a change in the time you spend at the different levels of sleep. Also, many astronauts have been bothered by a peculiar effect known as “head nod.” During full relaxation in sleep, the head develops a nodding motion. This nodding motion is thought to occur as a result of blood pulsing through the large arteries in the neck. Some astronauts have been awakened by nausea symptoms which they blamed on the head nod. Others have noticed the head nod, but did not feel any ill effects.

  62. Did you snore? Did anyone snore on Skylab? Did snoring bother you or keep you awake?

  No. As far as I know, no one snored on Skylab. In weightlessness, the position of the soft palate in the upper throat doesn’t change with the body position, which is probably the reason people don’t snore in space. Most snoring occurs when a person lies on his back, thus causing the soft palate to hang down and vibrate during breathing.

  63. Did you have to do exercises?

  Yes. Since it doesn’t take much physical effort to move around in space, an astronaut must exercise regularly to prevent the muscles from getting weak. We were given about one-and-a-half hours a day to exercise.

  I normally spent half an hour on the stationary bicycle, fifteen minutes using spring and pulley (reel-type) exercisers, and ten minutes walking on the treadmill. On our day off, we sometimes skipped all exercises except the treadmill. We usually listened to music, using a stereo headset, while we were exercising on the bicycle, to help pass the time.

  One time I was playing a new tape in Joe Kerwin’s selection and really pumping hard as the work load increased at the end of the workout. I was tiring fast and wondering if I would be able to finish when the overture from William Tell started. It really gave me a shot of energy and I finished with power to spare. I was really surprised how much the music affected my performance.

  64. What happens to the sweat?

  We got a lot of sweat on our backs when we pedaled the bicycle. It didn’t drop off like it does here on Earth. The sweat on the back collected in a large puddle. By the end of half an hour of exercise, the puddle was as large as a dinner plate and about a quarter of an inch deep. It just sort of slithered around on our backs as we pedaled the bicycle. When we were done, we had to move very carefully to avoid slinging off a large glob of sweat. It would have stuck to the walls of the spacecraft or onto equipment and caused problems. We used an old towel to mop the sweat off our backs before bathing.

  65. How did you keep from floating around while exercising?

  Our shoes locked into the pedals of the bicycle, but this didn’t take care of the entire problem. We needed something to hold our bodies down because we tended to float off the seat. We finally held our heads against a makeshift pad mounted against the ceiling to balance the up-force caused by pushing down on the pedals. For the spring and pulley exercisers, we locked our shoes in the floor to hold us in position while we exercised. The treadmill had a harness that held us down against the walking surface.

  66. How did you go to the bathroom?

  On Skylab, for the first time in space, we had a separate room for a toilet. It was called the Waste Management Compartment. A funnel-shaped device was used to collect the urine. Air was drawn through the funnel to make sure the urine was pulled into the collection bag inside the device. This bag was changed daily. A commode, or potty, was used for solid waste collection. It was mounted on the wall (remember, there is no up or down in space) and was lined with a porous bag that was replaced after each use. Air was drawn through the bag to settle the waste.

  The bag containing the solid waste was removed after each use and dried in a heat/vacuum chamber. All solid waste was dried, stored, and returned to Earth for medical analysis. Also, each day a small sample of urine was taken and frozen. It, too, was stored and brought back for analysis.

  The toilet seat was made of a plastic-coated, stiff cushion material. A seat belt had to be used to keep the user’s bottom from floating off the seat. Proper use of the toilet was essential if one wanted to avoid losing friends.

  Because of their recess
ed plumbing, women have a special problem urinating hygienically in weightlessness. To solve this problem, NASA studied the issue in detail. This involved the photography of the urination function performed by a group of women volunteers. Based on their data, NASA developed a unisex toilet which is used on the Shuttle. The unisex toilet consists of a potty seat similar to the Skylab commode, together with a urine collection device located near the front of the toilet seat.

  In older spacecraft not furnished with a special toilet, the provisions were much cruder. Liquid waste was collected by the same method used on space walks (see next question). The urine was stored in a collector.

  Solid waste collection was much more difficult. We used a fecal collection bag, about eight inches across, with an adhesive ring surface around the top. The user stuck this bag to his bottom. After use, the solid waste was treated with chemical tablets to kill bacteria, and the bag was placed in a waste container.

  This technique wasn’t foolproof. Occasionally, fecal matter inadvertently floated free, unobserved by the user, and later drifted in view. Usually, no one would admit responsibility, and the event was cause for a lot of ribald comments. I can personally attest that fecal and urine spills can break the monotony on even the dullest days in space.

  67. How did you go to the bathroom on a space walk?

  We had two devices to wear under our space suits. One was for collecting urine, and one was for containing solid waste. The urine bag was attached to an undergarment with Velcro and connected to the penis by a rubber sleeve containing a check valve to prevent urine from leaking back out of the bag.

  For solid waste, we wore a thick pair of tight-fitting, thigh-length trousers called the Fecal Containment System. If required, the astronaut would go to the bathroom directly into this garment. I know of no one who ever used this system, but it was good that we had it available because we spent several hours out on space walks during Skylab. When we returned from space walks, we removed the waste collection devices and transferred the contents to the appropriate containers.

  Male astronauts still use the system described above. Female astronauts use a garment similar to normal feminine underwear called a Disposable Absorbent Containment Trunk (DACT). The DACT is lined with a one-way transmission layer that conducts liquid waste to a superabsorbent material that is capable of holding over a quart of liquid. The DACT is also worn during ascent (boost) and reentry by female crew members.

  68. How did you bathe?

  We had to bathe just about every day because we got very sweaty during exercise. On work days, we took a sponge bath, using a washcloth, soap, and water; on our days off, once a week, we had about a half a gallon (two liters) of warm water for a shower.

  To take a sponge bath, we started by gently squirting water on a washcloth from the water dispenser in the bathroom. The water stuck to the washcloth and looked like a thick layer of gelatin; we had to move it carefully over to our bodies. As the water touched the body, it would stick and spread over an area a bit larger than the washcloth. The entire body was wetted this way, then lathered with soap. Then, as much soap lather as possible was removed with the washcloth, which could be wrung out in a special cloth squeezer. Next, water was again spread on the body and again mopped up, until the soap was removed. A towel was then used to dry. It took about thirty minutes to take a sponge bath.

  A shower also took a long time—about half an hour. We had a zero gravity shower stall, which was a circular sleeve, about three feet in diameter, with a stationary bottom attached to the floor and a circular top mounted on the ceiling. The sleeve’s wall surface was fastened to the top when ready to shower and fully enclosed the user. Once inside the shower stall, a spray nozzle was used to squirt water on the body and a vacuum cleaner attachment was used to suck off the soapy water both from the skin and from the walls of the shower stall. It was important to save enough water for rinsing off the soap.

  I really did not enjoy the shower. It took a lot of work to get the equipment set up and I got chilled after the shower. The air was so dry that when I opened the shower stall, the rapid evaporation caused uncontrollable shivering for about a minute.

  69. How did you shave?

  We had commercial twin-blade razors, brushless shave cream in a tube, and also a wind-up rotary mechanical razor. I tried the wind-up razor but found it to be very poor. It pulled. I shaved with the blade razors for about two weeks, then stopped shaving and grew a beard. The blade razors were only good for one smooth shave, probably because there was no good way to rinse the shaving cream and whiskers from under the blades. We wiped the razor off on a washcloth and then rinsed the washcloth by squirting water on it and wringing the cloth in a special washcloth wringer. It took about fifteen minutes to shave; so, when I stopped shaving, it freed up some valuable early morning time.

  70. Did you age less on your space journey? How much?

  According to the theory of relativity, time passes more slowly for: (a) a person in a higher gravitational field than he normally experiences. (b) a person under accelerated motion, or (c) a person traveling at very high speeds (near the speed of light). For example, a person on the first floor of a tall office building ages more slowly than a person on the top floor (the difference is extremely small), because the gravitational attraction is stronger on the lower floor. Similarly, an astronaut experiences several minutes of accelerated motion during the launch and reentry phases, thus the aging is slowed. However, once in orbit, the aging rate is higher, due to the lower gravitational field. I don’t know what the final result is, but I think the increased rate of aging in orbit exceeds the effect of the decreased rate during accelerated flight. In any case, the difference in aging is extremely small.

  71. Can you hear as well in space?

  We had difficulty hearing each other beyond twenty-five feet. Part of this was due to the noise level in Skylab, but some of it was probably caused by the thin air, as the atmosphere was about one-third as dense as air on the Earth’s surface. There was no detectable change in the ear’s ability to hear. The Space Shuttle cabin pressure is about the same as on the Earth’s surface.

  72. Did you have trouble talking? Did your voice change at all?

  No, we didn’t have any difficulty talking, even though the air was much thinner than air on Earth. We did not notice any change in voice pitch like the “Donald Duck” effect that deep-sea divers notice from breathing a thin or low density gas such as helium.

  73. Do things taste and smell the same?

  There are some slight changes in the sense of taste and smell. On our flight, we repeated taste and odor tests that we had done on Earth before the flight. The results were different for each person, and no consistent patterns were determined.

  74. How did you tell time?

  We wore commercial wristwatches and also had several clocks in the spacecraft. Our daily routine (work/sleep times) was based on Central time in the United States. Of course, day and night periods in orbit changed much faster than on Earth. We had sixteen sunrises and sunsets every twenty-four hour Earth day.

  75. How can you tell up from down?

  In weightlessness, there is no up or down insofar as your body feel is concerned. However, we did prefer moving to a position so that things “looked” right-side-up to the eyes. It was amusing to watch one of the other crewmen looking out the window toward Earth. He would always move his head or body around until his head was “up” facing the horizon.

  76. Does it make you dizzy when you do tumbling and acrobatics?

  Yes, in a way. Doing rapid rotations or tumbling gives you a strong giddy, dizzy feeling like you get on a ride at an amusement park. The strange thing about it is that the dizziness isn’t disorienting or the least bit nauseating. It’s a fairly powerful sensation with no ill effects. We still don’t quite understand it.

  77. What is a space suit made of?

  A space suit may have as many as fifteen layers of material. Starting from the inside, a space suit con
tains the following materials:

  1. A soft comfort layer of heat-resistant material called Nomex;

  2. A gastight bladder of cloth-reinforced rubberlike material, neoprene-coated nylon;

  3. Many layers of insulating materials;

  4. A protective outer layer of glass fiber and teflon cloth to protect against small meteoroids and fire.

  The bubble helmet is formed of a high-strength plastic called Lexan. Altogether, it weighs about forty pounds.

  78. What did you do for entertainment?

  We had an entertainment kit which included books, playing cards, squeeze-type hand exercisers, some balls, a Velcro-covered dart board with Velcro-tipped darts, three stereo tape players with headsets and cabinet speakers, and a pair of binoculars. We each selected our own music tapes and books in advance of our mission, and these were sent up in Skylab when it was put into orbit.

  We used the tape players, binoculars, and books more than any of the other items. The darts didn’t work too well. Their fins were small, and because of the thin atmosphere in Skylab (one-third the atmospheric pressure of Earth), they wobbled around when they were thrown. The second Skylab crew tried enlarging the fins, but it didn’t help much.

  Sometimes entertainment opportunities came up quite unexpectedly. We had dry-roasted peanuts in small cans with thin plastic covers. The covers had crisscross cuts to allow us to reach in with our fingers to pull out the peanuts. Occasionally, a peanut would float out of its container, and as we made our way through the space station, we would notice it drifting and tumbling through the air. When this happened, we would get against the wall, open our mouths wide, shove-off toward the peanut, and try to capture it with our mouths like a fish. Sometimes we were lucky enough to catch it on the first attempt, but usually we would bump it, which would send it twirling off away from us.