# Size mattered if you were astronaut **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 25, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532 "2014-03-25T16:38:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/1 "2014-03-25T16:38:30Z")
According to a NASA space engineer, [early astronauts](http://www.sfgate.com/news/strange-weird/article/Early-NASA-diapers-forced-astronauts-to-disclose-5343939.php) needed to provide an accurate measurement of a certain male body part so that body waste disposal equipment would work properly. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/2 "2014-03-25T16:47:43Z")
lol xD thank you for that. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/3 "2014-03-25T16:51:03Z")
Who wanted to account for Shrinkage? ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/4 "2014-03-25T21:20:12Z")
I wonder when that information will get released to the public :-). It might explain why Gordo Cooper was such a hot dog. Flying so low over the Florida Everglades so your propeller is hitting grass just to get under a flock of seagulls to prove they’ll poop on your plane is not the work of a man comfortable with his manhood. Or sanity. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/5 "2014-03-26T14:45:30Z")
Was the measurement affected by all the tang they got? ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/6 "2014-03-26T15:54:59Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > Was the measurement affected by all the tang they got? Different kind of [Tang](http://www.cosmeticsocialmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/i-heart-tang.png). ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/7 "2014-03-26T16:33:17Z")
I’m certain that their wives (especially the exes) could have told anybody who was interested how they “measured up.”😉 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/8 "2014-03-26T16:37:21Z")
Not the picture I was expecting to see when I clicked on the link…“No, really guys, mine’s this big”. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/9 "2014-03-26T16:55:44Z")
> [@beagledave](#): > > Different kind of [Tang](http://www.cosmeticsocialmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/i-heart-tang.png). They tried marketing a new dried-plum flavor of tang. But people considered the name “Prune-Tang” to be misleading. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/10 "2014-03-26T17:02:33Z")
[But boys will be boys](http://www.complex.com/tech/2014/03/nasa-condom), even if they’re astronauts: > [@](#): > > What ended up happening was astronauts would pick ‘large’, regardless if it wasn’t their size (remember, there are lady astronauts aboard.) The problem with this is when an astronaut needs to take a leak and his penis is fitted with a large condom that he can’t fill out, his piss is going to end up all over the suit—and his secret won’t exactly be a secret anymore. > > How did NASA fix this problem? > > They renamed the sizes to large, gigantic, and humongous. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/11 "2014-03-29T22:46:45Z")
[NASA diapers forced men to make big revelation](http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/25/nasa-diapers-forced-men-to-make-big-revelation/?intcmp=obinsite) > [@](#): > > It was a mission-critical element: the size of NASA astronauts’ manhood. Seriously. The Houston Chronicle resurrects the fascinating historical tidbit by way of the Science Channel’s Moon Machines documentary series, in which engineer Donald Rethke explained the very precise nature of early space diapers. > > The Maximum Absorbency Garment system, donned by Gemini and Apollo astronauts, featured one very specific element: a sleeve likened to a condom with a hole at the tip that enabled the men to urinate into a pouch with a one-way valve in their suits. > > Three sleeve sizes were available, small, medium, and large. And astronauts couldn’t fib, explains Rethke. If they decided to order the next size up, the sheath wouldn’t fit snugly, and liquid could potentially leak out, causing damage. Here’s the kicker for me. > [@](#): > > To make the process a little less embarrassing, the sizes were later renamed: large, gigantic, and humongous. I always insisted I had a large penis. Now NASA will back me up! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/12 "2014-03-29T23:58:59Z")
> [@](#): > > To make the process a little less embarrassing, the sizes were later renamed: large, gigantic, and humongous. I’d think NASA could come up with something better than that, like maybe “So are you more of a Sirius B, Alpha Centauri, or a Rigel?” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/13 "2014-03-30T00:07:50Z")
Look, you don’t understand. Space is cold. There was shrinkage. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/14 "2014-03-30T00:57:57Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Look, you don’t understand. Space is cold. There was shrinkage. In space, nobody can hear your excuses. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/15 "2014-03-30T15:21:28Z")
[Previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=719214) on the topic. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/16 "2014-03-30T15:44:03Z")
having the right stuff was important. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/17 "2014-03-30T17:37:45Z")
Merged duplicate threads. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/size-mattered-if-you-were-astronaut/684532/18 "2014-03-30T21:21:00Z")
Now I’m just thinking of penises in zero-G.