If you have dreams and aspirations of visiting space like a legendary astronaut — like Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin — you may want to think again as it is not all rhythm and blues, especially when using the toilet. Apparently, these people had to forfeit some personal conveniences to be the first people to land on the Moon back in 1969. The Apollo 11 landed 50 years ago on 20th July.

 

Apparently, the one thing NASA engineers did not make provisions for in the spaceships that have left the earth was a toilet. The US space shuttles did not have a toilet installed until 1980. The 1970s’ Skylab space station had something that was almost a toilet. It was a hole in the wall where astronauts had to dry their faeces in a special place.

 

 

During the Apollo 11 where Armstrong voyaged, the astronauts had to struggle with the stench of the poo bag they used. A NASA report says,

“Defecation and urination have been bothersome aspects of space travel from the beginning of manned space flight.”

 

The astronauts had to pee using a condom-like rubber that was hooked with a hose to a bag. The condom-like bag was replaced daily. This meant that they were susceptible to nasty spills. It also meant, as you might imagine already, that there was no provision for female astronauts to go to space.

 

A Poop Bag

The NASA report also stated that; “In the absence of a system providing positive means for the removal of faeces from the body, an extremely basic system had to be relied upon for in-flight faecal collection. The device used was a plastic bag which was taped to the buttocks to capture faeces.”

 

 

This plastic bag was named a Faecal Bag. The bag, which was used for relief by astronauts, had a complete compartment for toilet paper. It also had an in-built finger covering that allows the precise position of the bag. That way, the astronauts can stay clean. The process takes an estimated 45 minutes.

 

Now to make matters worse, the astronauts have the responsibility of bringing back the faeces for examination. The astronauts will need to seal up the bag and mix in some bactericide in it to allow the poop land safely back to Earth.

 

The astronauts also had to roll the poop bags into the smallest possible volume. They also needed to store the bags for the return trip which leaves them with the problem of a constant odour.

 

 

An Apollo bathroom report read, “In general, the Apollo waste management system worked satisfactorily from an engineering standpoint. From the point of view of crew acceptance, however, the system must be given poor marks.”

 

Due to this quite gross procedure. Astronauts try to use laxatives before they embark on a space journey. Some also use drugs that tend to make their intestines run more slowly. This will, in turn, help them to reduce how often they would need to take bathroom breaks.

 

Astronaut also sometimes wore diapers called the faecal containment system. This they need to use while wearing space suits on the moon surface because they cannot use the bag system outside the spaceships.