Can astronauts go to the toilet in their suits ?

Question

Wow, so at the pinnacle of technological brilliance & human ingenuity.. when mankind achieved the almost impossible- he was actually plodding

around with his own excrement smeared up his backside with wee wee in a bag?

Answer 1

Yes, they have a special inbuilt catheter, samples are taken back to Earth for analysis...

Answer 2

You might find the NASA link below to be helpful.

Answer 3

I think they use adult diapers called mags

Answer 4

Even before reaching outer space, an astronaut is likely to have problems with urination. When seated in their acceleration couches before liftoff, astronauts are on their back, with legs elevated above their trunk. This position enhances blood flow to the kidneys, which respond by increasing production of urine. Staying in such a position for hours is likely to fill the bladder to capacity. Shuttle astronaut Jerry Linenger said, "I can personally attest to the fact that it is impossible not to have a tremendous urge to urinate when your legs are elevated above your head for three hours. Whenever one of the crew began to whistle softly, we knew what he was up to."

Today, astronauts wear the "MAG" (Maximum Absorbency Garment) during liftoff - a diaper by any other name. Once in orbit, any wet MAG is removed, placed into a sealable plastic bag, and stowed in the wet trash compartment for the duration of the mission. But, it wasn't always so routine . . . . The movie The Right Stuff, famously and humorously depicts Alan Shepard's confrontation with this problem, in the first American manned space mission. In the movie, Shepard's pre-flight coffee intake was blamed for his urge. Shepard was ultimately forced to urinate in his space suit.

When Dr. Zebra worked at the Johnson Space Center in 1981, he was taken on a tour of the Hamilton Standard Company, the makers of the astronaut spacesuits. He was told that the male astronauts of the 1960s and 1970s had worn a condom catheter under the spacesuits they used for space-walks and moon-walks. Condom catheters have been routinely used by men in hospitals for years, but there is no analog for women despite the fervent wish for one by many physicians, nurses, and patients. So, with the "can do" attitude characteristic of the American space program of those years, the Hamilton Standard engineers set out to solve this problem of plumbing that had so far resisted solution on earth . . . and they succeeded. Dr. Zebra's guide told him that the new device would fit into the opening of the female urogenital tract and remain in place. To describe the shape of the device, he made his hand into a shape, and described it as looking like "a venus fly-trap, with spikes." The proud engineers, presumably all male, approached various secretaries in the company to be test subjects, but after one look at the device, all the secretaries said no. They probably said something a little stronger, as the project was dropped, and a diaper system (then called DACT: disposable absorptive collecting something-or-other) was fielded.

Something funny:

In the microgravity environment of space, it is apparently possible to move oneself around by farting. For this and other reasons, the toilet on space station Mir had restraining devices. The restraining devices also serve to keep the user from being thrust away from the toilet seat when what could tactfully be described as “digestive gas thrusters firing.” Also, humans take other abnormal bathroom functions into space, too. An astronaut in the Skylab and Apollo 9 mission vomited in their helmet. That made a mess.

Answer 5

didn't you hear the woman astronaut that wore the space dipper to go to Florida and kill the other astronauts wife so they can be together.

Answer 6

well they can urinate. the astronauts in the appolo program had this device called the UCD(Urine collecting device) which sucks all the urine in to a bag which they can later dispose of cource.

In space shuttles they do have toilets which has suction systems to suck the stuff in.

Answer 7

Yes suits have pee and p**p  receptacles.  Diet is arranged to leave as little  waste residue as possible...

Answer 8

women, and some men wear diapers the rest of the men were a "bag"

Answer 9

umm not im pretty sure they dont

haha : ]

Answer 10

bet they wear adult nappy's

Answer 11

It is my understanding that the suits are built specifically to allow this function but I am not an astronaut so I don't know for sure.

Answer 12

The astronauts on the Moon wore both a diaper like waste collector for solids, and were hooked up to a catheter for the passing of urine.

"Did you know Buzz Aldrin was the 1st astronaut to have a Ph.D. and his nickname was "Dr. Rendezvous"? He was also the 1st one to pee on the moon. What did you think he was doing when he stopped at the bottom on the ladder?"

Its not that unusual, fighter pilots often have a similar hookup when flying long distance missions, as its not like they'll be able to stop, get out, and find a gas station rest room.

Answer 13

YES! They can. They have it built into their suits so that they do not have to compromise the integrity of a spacewalk or a repair simply to use the bathroom.