# NASA studies human waste removal. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 19, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256 "2017-02-19T20:51:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/1 "2017-02-19T20:51:56Z")
[NASA gave prizes](http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2017/02/16/NASA-announces-winners-of-Space-Poop-Challenge/4241487262487/?st_rec=3841487514606) for the best ideas of how to remove waste from a spacesuit. At the end of the article: > [@](#): > > Orion crew survival system project manager at NASA Dustin Gohmert said the winning ideas will be combined to create a system that will actually be used in space. > > “Optimistically this will never be used, because it is a contingency scenario that something catastrophic has happened,” he said. “But this will be on Orion and should something happen, and should it be called on to save the crew, this will be there and at their disposal.” How did we get from pooping to “catastrophic” and “save the crew”? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/2 "2017-02-19T20:54:41Z")
Some of the proposed Orion missions are quite long, long enough for human waste left in contact with skin to cause serious health risks. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/3 "2017-02-19T20:59:55Z")
Just take notes from Alan Shepard’s first space mission. [http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/06/the-science-and-history-of-space-urination.html](http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/06/the-science-and-history-of-space-urination.html) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/4 "2017-02-19T21:10:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Some of the proposed Orion missions are quite long, long enough for human waste left in contact with skin to cause serious health risks. My impression from the article is that we are speaking of examples like ten hour spacewalks. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/5 "2017-02-19T21:49:51Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Just take notes from Alan Shepard’s first space mission. > > [Alan Shepard Wet His Spacesuit: The Science and History of Space Urination | RealClearScience](http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2013/06/the-science-and-history-of-space-urination.html) Lovely, stuck on the launchpad for three hours, in a air/water tight suit, marinating in my own piss. Oh it gets better Now, when my rocket gets free of earths gravity, my piss is free to take up some free form floating exercises inside my suit. “ladies and Gentlemen, if i may draw your attention to the floating piss globules in front of you, notice how they slowly rotate changing form in the absence of gravity” Poor guy ---
**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:** [February 19, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/6 "2017-02-19T22:08:44Z")
It’s unpolitically correct to say so now, of course, but as Tom Wolfe reported in _The Right Stuff_, Shepard quipped, “I guess I’m a real wetback now.” ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/7 "2017-02-20T14:23:36Z")
Lengths of rubber tied around the neck, presumably is the first thing required. Stop polutant reaching helmet part of suit… ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/8 "2017-02-20T14:37:23Z")
I suspect the point is that in the event of something catastrophic happening to the craft, the crew will all need to don spacesuits and live in them for extended lengths of time. Days to weeks to the rest of the mission. So, as a contingency for such a catastrophe, they want to work out how to cope with wearing the suit for that sort of time. Without any sort of waste mechanism the time in a suit clearly has a limited duration before its operation become untenable. Gemini VII would have sorely strained the limits of endurance. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/9 "2017-02-20T14:38:08Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > My impression from the article is that we are speaking of examples like ten hour spacewalks. This. The only time an astronaut may need to poop during a spacewalk is if it’s much longer than is usually allowed, or if the spacewalk was not planned in advance. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/10 "2017-02-20T14:48:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > How did we get from pooping to “catastrophic” ? > [@scr4](#): > > This. The only time an astronaut may need to poop during a spacewalk is if the spacewalk was **not planned in advance.** A spacewalk ain’t the same as walking your dog. I’m thinkin’ that the only reason for a taking a spacewalk that was not planned in advance would be a due to something catastrophic. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-studies-human-waste-removal/780256/11 "2017-02-20T15:02:09Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > A spacewalk ain’t the same as walking your dog. > I’m thinkin’ that the only reason for a taking a spacewalk that was not planned in advance would be a due to something catastrophic. Yeah, they didn’t exactly call it out explicitly, but I agree. The thinking is that if someone has to work for an extended period in a spacesuit as a result of something catastrophic or in order to remedy said catastrophic event, being able to drop a deuce in the suit without ill effects is probably a necessary capability. And as for Shepard and his urine… I think the crew of Apollo 10 had it worse. > **[The Floating Poop Mystery That Has Haunted NASA Since 1969](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/64345/nasas-46-year-old-floating-poop-mystery)** > > The astronauts on NASA’s Apollo 10 mission in May 1969 paved the way for a pivotal moment in human history. But in the process, they introduced an entirely new kind of space exploration mystery. or maybe John Young on Apollo 16. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Uuv6TVv0r44/hqdefault.jpg "Farting on the Moon - Apollo 16") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuv6TVv0r44)