{"id":406592,"date":"2026-04-19T12:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406592\/"},"modified":"2026-04-19T12:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:13:24","slug":"how-do-astronauts-poop-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/406592\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do Astronauts Poop In Space?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, the Artemis II crew took a\u00a0trip to the moon<\/a>\u00a0and back. The astronauts involved\u00a0\u2013 Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, and Christina Koch \u2013\u00a0were the first to reach the satellite in over 50 years,<\/a> and spent 10 whole days in space.<\/p>\n

A visit to the moon in the age of social media was a beautiful thing. Some people filmed<\/a> the rocket\u2019s launch from the window of their commercial flight. We got new, beautiful images<\/a> of the Earth from space.<\/p>\n

But while some were touched by the drive, ingenuity, and ambition of the mission, I was left with a more prosaic question: what happens when astronauts need the loo?<\/p>\n

How do astronauts poop in space?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Taking a trip to the toilet in a low-gravity environment is no easy feat.<\/p>\n

Previous missions, like Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, had no toilets. Astronauts used to tape plastic bags to their buttocks to capture the waste. Then,\u00a0after a bowel movement,<\/a> astronauts would seal the bag and knead in a chemical designed to kill bacteria.<\/p>\n

This was, it\u2019s safe to say, less than optimal. In the Apollo 10 mission, for instance, one astronaut is recorded as saying,<\/a>\u00a0\u201cGive me a napkin quick, there\u2019s a turd floating through the air\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the Artemis II rocket,\u00a0Artemis Orion, was an exception: it had a specially-designed loo as part of its Universal Waste Management System.<\/p>\n

This took the form of a cubicle built under the floor<\/a> of the capsule, though in a video, astronaut Christina Koch explained:<\/a>\u00a0\u201cOnce you\u2019re in there… you have no idea whether you\u2019re on the floor or which way your head is facing or anything. You could be floor, ceiling, wall, doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

For that reason, she explained, you need to use the handholds placed in the walls on the sides of the loo. Sometimes, tethers are used<\/a> too.<\/p>\n

The heavily-insulated walls are designed to muffle the incredibly loud sounds of its plumbing, she continued<\/a>, which uses air flow to divert urine away via a hose and, the BBC reported,<\/a>\u00a0has a \u201cspecial seat with strong suction which pulls [solid matter] into a container, which is sealed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

RONALDO SCHEMIDT \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Artemis II\u2019s toilet temporarily broke in space<\/p>\n

At one point during its flight, NASA said<\/a> Artemis Orion II\u2019s loo faced issues.<\/p>\n

It was no longer able to dump its waste into space, and the astronauts had to rely on a secondary system of plastic containers too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud to call myself the space plumber, I like to say that it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board,\u201d astronaut Christina Koch said at the time.<\/p>\n

Also in BuzzFeed: 17 Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Dark And Tragic Things I Just Learned About That Should Honestly Be Illegal To Know<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in BuzzFeed: “WHAT THE ACTUAL ****”: The Internet Has Thoughts About The \u2018Euphoria\u2019 Season 3 Trailer And There Are A LOT Of Them<\/a><\/p>\n

Also in BuzzFeed: Who Are You In The Friend Group?<\/a><\/p>\n

Read it on BuzzFeed.com<\/a><\/p>\n