We often have this question in our mind, How do astronauts pee in space?

Renowned science-fiction author Mary Robinette Kowal has impressed netizens with the series of tweets in which she has discussed about "peeing in space"

Actually, Mary has some connection to this peeing story. She wrote an essay for The New York Times where Kowal had written about gender discrimination in NASA`s space programs. Kowal explained that the 1969 mission to the moon was "designed by men, for men". Not women.

She was later widely criticized for her essay.

She began it on twitter by stating the response she on her essay.

"Several people, in response to my NY Times essay, have said that women couldn`t go into space because we lacked the technology for them to pee in space,"  Kowal wrote in her first tweet.

 

Let`s talk about peeing in space.

Several people, in response to my NY Times essay, have said that women couldn`t go into space because we lacked the technology for them to pee in space.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

 

When the Mercury program was proposed, doctors were worried that people would not be able to urinate or even swallow without the aid of gravity.

And yet, they still made plans to send a man into space.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

When Alan Shepherd became the first American man to go into space, it was scheduled to be a fifteen-minute mission.

Up.

Hello space!

Back down.

They made no plans for peeing.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

 

Launchpad delays meant that Shepherd hit a point where he needed to go. Badly.

He asked Mission Control for permission to go in his suit. After consultation with flight surgeons & suit technicians, they gave him permission to do so.

So he wet himself & still went into space.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Later, they solved this problem by developing a sheath, that looked much like a condom.

It worked great in testing, but when the actual astronauts used it, the sheath kept blowing off and leaving them with pee in their suits.

Was this about extended time in the spacesuit?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Later, they solved this problem by developing a sheath, that looked much like a condom.

It worked great in testing, but when the actual astronauts used it, the sheath kept blowing off and leaving them with pee in their suits.

Was this about extended time in the spacesuit?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

The sheaths came in small, medium, and large. It turns out, the men were all saying that they needed a Large sheath.

They did not.

Subsequently, the astronauts called the sheaths were called "Extra-large," "Immense," and "Unbelievable."

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

They had to tape a bag to their ass to poop.

That worked well for Gemini and Mercury. And by well, I mean there was still urine in the capsule and it stank of feces.

Apollo needed a different solution.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Alas, they still had to poop into a bag, but for peeing, they could slip on a condom attached to a valve, turn the valve and have their urine sucked into the vacuum of space.

If you timed it right.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Open the valve a fraction too late, and urine escaped to float around the cabin.

Open it too early and the vacuum of space reached through the valve to grab your manhood.

Apparently, the venting of pee into space is very pretty. It catches the sunlight and sparkles.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

For the spacewalks, the Apollo astronauts were back to condoms that collected the pee in a bag in the suit.

Buzz Aldrin was the second man on the moon, but the first to pee there.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

During Apollo13, everyone who has seen the movie knows that Fred Haise got sick. Do you know why, though?

After the accident, they couldn`t use the regular vent, because it needed to be heated to keep the pee from freezing.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

The alternate system caused droplets to float around the ship. Mission Control told them to stop dumping pee.

It wasn`t meant to be a permanent ban, but the crew didn`t understand that. So they were stashing pee in every bag or container possible.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

The fastest option was to store it in the collection bags they wore in their suits. Haise kept his on for hours and hours, basically bathing in pee.

He got a UTI and then a kidney infection.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Finally, a decade later, NASA decides to send women into space. NOW they have a reason to come up with how to handle peeing in space if you don`t have a penis.

To launch and for a spacewalk, they developed the MAG

Maximum Absorbency Garment.

It`s a diaper.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

The men switched over to using those because it was more comfortable and less prone to leave pee floating around the cabin than the condom sheath.

They also developed a zero-G toilet so that astronauts no longer had to tape a bag to their ass.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Peeing or pooping in space is now a lengthy process, involving a fan, a targeting system, and a fair amount of prayer.

Fun pooping in space fact: Without gravity, the poop doesn`t break off as it exits your body. You have to reach back and help with special gloves.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Peeing is a little more straightforward. It`s basically a funnel, a tube, a bag, and a fan for suction.

Sometimes though, the toilet breaks down. At that point, they return to using "relief bags" taped to their ass and "manual urine containment."

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

During a malfunction, it is also possible for a giant floating globe of pee to exit the toilet.

Fun fact: Due to chemicals, it is bright purple and acidic.

Fun fact: Poop regularly escapes, which is why you never eat a milk dud found floating in the ISS.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

All of which is to say that the reason women didn`t go into space had nothing to do with lacking the technology to pee.

We didn`t have the technology for men to pee in space when they started either.

And some days, the best solution is still a diaper or a bag taped to the ass

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

Fun fact: Gravity creates most of the sense of urgency for peeing, so in microgravity, astronauts can`t always tell when they need to go.

It`s such a complicated process that they pee on a schedule.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) July 19, 2019

 

 

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