This Is How You Poop In Space
Spoiler: It's not easy.
This is how you do "number one" in space. You basically just pee into that yellow part of the hose.
Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti recently explained the difficulties of, um, "doing your business" in microgravity. You basically just have to grab that hose and turn the switch on, which isn't too hard.
The hose's fan creates a suction effect so urine droplets are not flying all over the International Space Station. The urine is recycled into water, so you'll get to drink your own pee.
Number two is hella complicated.
You don't really get to "sit" in weightlessness, but you'll still do your business on that uninviting white throne aka the solid waste container. The container is connected to the same hose, so it sucks all of that nasty poop into a bag, which you push into the container.
The solid waste container is changed every 10 days for a crew of three people, which is more frequent than your average grotesque festival porta-potty.
If you're curious about the whole process, you can watch the entire video below:
View this video on YouTube
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Science Writer
Contact Natasha Umer at natasha.umer@buzzfeed.com.
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