The bathroom will be used by veteran American astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, who will be on board the Crew Dragon to take part in the Demo-2 flight test. The trip should last until tomorrow (28) and will be a milestone in American history. But the real question is: how does this type of bathroom work?
How a space toilet works
It is common for space bathrooms to be extremely uncomfortable, and it is normal for astronauts to hold on to their needs as much as possible. However, a trip that lasts a whole day ends up making this practice much more difficult. To relieve themselves, spacemen need to hold their bodies, immobilize their feet and use a belt to keep them tied to the toilet. If they don’t, the astronauts end up floating while doing their needs. When they go to urinate, they use a kind of hose that must be attached as close as possible so that the urine goes directly into it, something that, we agree, seems quite uncomfortable. After that, the pee is launched into space and evaporates in a matter of seconds. For faecal waste, astronauts have a camera inside the toilet, which helps them to aim – exactly what you read – to aim when evacuating. The feces are kept in a compartment, where they are dehydrated, disinfected and stored. The new bathroom is expected to innovate in terms of comfort and waste removal, but, unfortunately, we will not know the news about the new system until Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley return to the earth.
Flight that will make history
Crew Dragon is about to make history this Wednesday (27). This is because, in a joint work between SpaceX and NASA, it will launch for the first time, since 2011, two North American astronauts to travel in Earth orbit. The takeoff will take place at Kennedy Space Center and the intention is to reach the International Space Station. You may also like.
