# Going #2 in space.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-2-in-space/590879>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 31, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-2-in-space/590879 "2011-07-31T01:19:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![eddiec3434](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@eddiec3434](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eddiec3434)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-2-in-space/590879/1 "2011-07-31T01:19:32Z")

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Gravity is our friend when going #2 here on earth. Now im sure NASA has it all worked out, but yeah, how do they go #2 in space. I know Im not the first one to ask and won’t be the last. So tell me, do they sit on a suction toilet? Do they launch into a tube? What if they’re are on an EVA? Is it ejected or stored? I have never learned the procedure for this. Thank you.

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-2-in-space/590879/2 "2011-07-31T01:23:22Z")

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[One of the ways it’s done.](http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/In-The-Museum-Toilet-Training.html)

In space, no one can hear you strain.

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**Author:** ![automagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@automagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/automagic)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-2-in-space/590879/3 "2011-07-31T02:06:53Z")

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I remember watching a video on you tube (Author@GoogleTalks) and the speaker told her stories of her interviews with astronauts and cosmonauts. During Apollo apparently all they used was a plastic bag and “good” aim. Today they have a more sophisticated “toilet” since the plastic bag method did not allow for good _seperation_.

She also described the testing they did for the new toilet. The first time it was tested they used the vomit comet and a poor guy behind a shroud had to try to go during the 20 seconds the airplane was experiencing weightlessness. After that method failed a human pooping analog was used instead.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-2-in-space/590879/4 "2011-07-31T05:00:25Z")

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But what about toilet paper? If they use it, how is it disposed of or recycled? Or does the technology make the paper unnecessary?

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**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\
**Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/going-2-in-space/590879/5 "2011-07-31T05:04:49Z")

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Quite a few answers in this thread:

> **[Is there astronaut poop on the moon?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617920)**
>
> There has to be, right? I’m sure they didn’t store it all up for the return voyage. In fact, in Apollo 13, when Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks) flushes his urine out into space, it follows along beside the craft thanks to Newton’s first law of motion. I...