# Taking a Leak on the Moon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 11, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133 "2010-03-11T18:05:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/21 "2010-03-11T20:33:10Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Never noticed. OK, I’ll bite. Why don’t stars show up on photographs from the moon? [Phil Plait explains it here.](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html#stars) ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/22 "2010-03-11T20:34:52Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Couldn’t any trajectory of pee be created in any gravity just by adjusting the force? You could have an artificial penis stick out backed up by a pump. That’s why I asked what the actual distance would be. After all, it’s something the layman is familiar with, and it would be pretty convincing if it went a super-human distance. > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Never noticed. OK, I’ll bite. Why don’t stars show up on photographs from the moon? People expect to see stars because the sky is dark. They don’t realise the stars aren’t bright enough to show with the camera set to daylight exposure settings. Here is a good article that debunks a lot of the moon hoax claims: [http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/23 "2010-03-11T20:35:54Z")
Wasn’t there a golf ball that went pretty far? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/24 "2010-03-11T20:37:23Z")
But don’t forget, we have the documentary on how the Mars landing was faked. Watch Capricorn One" if you’re not afraid of the truth. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/25 "2010-03-11T20:42:11Z")
Guys have suffered serious injuries here on Earth by sticking their penes into vacuum cleaners. No vacuum cleaner can create anywhere near the underpressure of a true vacuum, like the lunar environment. So a penis exposed to the vacuum of the Moon, even if the suit is well-sealed around it, would surely suffer serious injuries, and would probably be destroyed as a functional organ. The way you do it is, you have a condom-like attachment or a catheter, that lets you pee into a plastic bladder in the spacesuit. Then you close a valve on the near side of the bladder to protect yourself, and then open one on the far side to release the waste. Or, of course, you just leave it in the suit (either in an inflatable bladder or a glorified diaper) and worry about it when you get home. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/26 "2010-03-11T20:55:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Guys have suffered serious injuries here on Earth by sticking their penes into vacuum cleaners. I thought those had to do with the rotating blades, not anything to do with air pressure. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/27 "2010-03-11T21:17:44Z")
A stream of mostly water would boil away quickly as soon as the pressure dropped and you’d never get a stream arching across the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/28 "2010-03-11T21:26:22Z")
I just realized if it froze it would be the first Golden Arches on the moon.:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/29 "2010-03-11T21:36:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Guys have suffered serious injuries here on Earth by sticking their penes into vacuum cleaners. No vacuum cleaner can create anywhere near the underpressure of a true vacuum, like the lunar environment. So a penis exposed to the vacuum of the Moon, even if the suit is well-sealed around it, would surely suffer serious injuries, and would probably be destroyed as a functional organ. Well, that kills that idea, and possibly Buzz. > [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > A stream of mostly water would boil away quickly as soon as the pressure dropped and you’d never get a stream arching across the moon. Would it boil away that quickly, or would hydrogen bonding hold the drops together long enough for them to hit the ground? If not, then plan B (water pistol) is also out. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/30 "2010-03-11T22:03:12Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > No need to when a feather and a hammer will do: > > [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6926891572259784994#](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6926891572259784994#) I always figured that many people who watched that demonstration commented along the lines of, 'Wow. I get it. When there’s less gravity, like on the moon, heavy and light objects fall at the same rate. Cool". 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/31 "2010-03-11T22:08:41Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > Well, that kills that idea, and possibly Buzz. Yeah. A real buzzkill. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/32 "2010-03-11T22:20:52Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > No need to when a feather and a hammer will do: > > [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6926891572259784994#](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6926891572259784994#) Ya gotta wonder though if he tried that first off camera – just to make sure. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/33 "2010-03-11T22:23:13Z")
> [@](#): > > At one extreme are the batty brigade, obviously there is no convicing them. More common are the people who either haven’t thought about it much No, by definition if you deny a well documented fact then you are part of the bratty brigade. I seriously doubt everyone is a moon denier by default until they sit down and look at all the facts. I dont know any “common people” who rave endlessly about government moon coverups. They’re nutters or serious morons to begin with. I also am willing to accept that being a moron leads you into nutty territory, but certainly not casual moon deniers who otherwise are educated and dont subscribe to conspiracy theories in general. Furthermore, there’s so much evidence for the moon missions there’s no need to piss or whatever. When someone believes a conspiracy theory they dismiss the facts to continue the belief. It wouldnt make any difference. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/34 "2010-03-11T22:35:56Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I don’t think so. These are conspiracy theorists. They very much want to believe, for whatever reasons, that we never went to the moon. Humans are good at finding ways to believe what they want to believe. They’d find some other “explanation” for the parabola of pee. I believe it was the late George Carlin who said about conspiracy theorists: “they only have to be right once!” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/35 "2010-03-11T22:35:59Z")
There certainly are people who don’t really have the background who get exposed to the idea that the moon landings were a hoax and don’t critically examine the evidence they are presented that supports that notion. It sounds plausible as presented to them, and makes them wonder. Not enough to go ranting on internet message boards, but enough to ask the question if the topic comes up. They are educable and generally willing to listen to the criticism of the erroneous info they have been given. Then there are people who have axes to grind against the government, so will not accept anything to dissuade their pre-formed opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/36 "2010-03-11T22:39:35Z")
> [@HorseloverFat](#): > > I dont know any “common people” who rave endlessly about government moon coverups. I’m not talking about people who obsess over it, I’m talking about people who causually entertain the idea that the landings were faked. I think you underestimate the power of ignorance, there is always a lot of mileage to be had in explaining things in the simplest terms possible. Couple other ideas I’ve had, a newton’s cradle or a grandfather clock might make a good demo. Am I right in thinking the newtons cradle would work in slow motion (compared to on earth), and that the clock would run slowly (assuming the pendulum generated enough force to overcome the internal friction of the mechanism)? To demonstrate the film wasn’t slowed down, Buzz could do the dance moves to ‘YMCA’ in the same shot. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/37 "2010-03-11T22:47:08Z")
So time travel too, eh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/38 "2010-03-11T22:54:16Z")
But “YCMA” wasn’t written till later. CLEARLY A CONSPIRACY! ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/39 "2010-03-11T22:54:29Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > But don’t forget, we have the documentary on how the Mars landing was faked. Watch > Capricorn One" if you’re not afraid of the truth. The truth of a fictional movie. OJ Simpson was in that, as an astronaut of that mission that had to be silenced when then returning Capricorn I capsule burned up on re-entry to Earth. I betcha Nicole Brown’s family watch this movie and laugh and laugh… ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133/40 "2010-03-11T23:22:34Z")
O.J. was on the roof, chasing squirrels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-leak-on-the-moon/532133.md?page=3)