The Definitive History of Peeing in Space
July 10, 2013 05:54pm EST
A new article by Hunter Hollins of the National Air and Space Museum documents the development of spacesuit urine-collection systems over time.
If it seems like there's been a lot of giggling over the mechanics of human bodily functions in space of late, it's because in recent months we've been treated to treatises on everything from poop-based radiation shields to the perils of unattributed, floating turds in the Apollo command modules.
But the dawn of the Space Age was a more innocent time, when doing one's duty was more about honor and courage than that other thing. So much so that the first American astronaut, Alan Shepard, was expected to just hold it during the pioneering Mercury-Redstone 3 flight on May 5, 1961, like a kind of rugged, spacefaring Ken doll.
NASA's brain trust hadn't factored in the need to relieve oneself and consequently did not build a urine-capturing system in Shepard's spacesuit. The unhappy result: The electronic biosensors in Shepard's spacesuit wound up short-circuiting when, after a more than three-hour launch delay, he finally got the go-ahead to go.
This is all documented in a new article from Hunter Hollins of the National Air and Space Museum, which appears in the current issue of the journal Advances in Physiology Education. With "Forgotten Hardware: How to Urinate in a Spacesuit," Hollins has taken it upon himself to offer up what surely must be the definitive history of breaking the seal without breaking a seal.
The article "reviews the history of urine collection in space and the considerations necessary to accommodate this basic physiological function," reports Phys.org. And it turns out that this problem wound up being trickier for NASA scientists than one might imagine.
After Shepard's embarrassing pickle, NASA came up with a working solution in time for Gus Grissom's 1961 Mercury-Redstone 4 mission. Grissom "urinated between two pairs of rubber pants," Hollins documents, a less-than-ideal but effective way to avoid damaging the suit electronics as Shepard had earlier that year.
It wasn't until John Glenn's historic trip around the Earth in 1962 that the space agency was able to kit out a spacesuit with a simple urine-collecting system. "[T]he resulting device resembled a condom made out of more durable materials and open on one end, with a tube connected to a storage container," Phys.org notes, adding that this primitive system remains on display at the National Air and Space Museum.
The upshot - Glenn "voided a full bladder into the new device, confirming its utility" during the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. And probably thanked his lucky stars that NASA scientists scrapped their original idea of shoving in a painful catheter for the duration of the spaceflight.
Hollins reports that modern urine-collection systems have replaced the device first used by Glenn, which was phased out in "the early days of the Space Shuttle program." But even the more advanced systems continue to have their issues, which include "poor fit, leaking, and skin damage from extended contact with urine."
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Damon Poeter got his start in journalism working for the English-language daily newspaper The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand. He covered everything from local news to sports and entertainment before settling on technology in the mid-2000s. Prior to joining PCMag, Damon worked at CRN and the Gilroy Dispatch. He has also written for the San Francisco Chronicle and Japan Times, among other newspapers and periodicals.
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