If you’ve wondered how Astronauts carry out the their business in space, its quite the same way as they would on earth in terms of bodily functions. There are a few quirks though when it comes to going to the bathroom in space as it’s not as easy as it sounds, zero gravity makes things much more challenging. Thats why NASA takes cosmic potty to a new frontier.
Being a weightless position means that being right side up or upside down doesn’t really matter, Astronauts have to use air flow to direct their bodily fluids. There are two functional systems that are used to dispose of number 1 and number 2 instead of a simple toilet seat that you would have on earth. Both systems use suction systems to pull in bodily waste, for peeing their is a simple pipe style system and for taking a dump their is very compact toilet seat.
Just like any other toilet there is also a supply of toilet paper, gloves and wet wipes in case things get messy when you take a dump or a leak. The main aim for Astronauts using the space potty is control of where the fluids or solids directionally go or else they will end up floating inside the toilet creating a mess that is usually cleaned up using gloves.
Stayed tuned for our next article about how Astronauts pass gas in space and does it really affect other Astronauts around them.
