Hi, all astronomy fans, today we will be talking about a rather amazing question. I know that most of you probably have this question in mind which you have not solved the mystery until now. So do you know how do astronauts exactly go to the bathroom in space? You may ask yourself whether even the potty chair is in place? So today, I am here to clarify all your doubts.


SO, HOW DO ASTRONAUTS GO TO THE BATHROOM AND TAKE CARE OF OTHER PERSONAL HYGIENE?


Do you know that each Space Shuttle actually has a toilet that can be used by both men and women. It is also designed to be as much as possible like those on Earth, however, the big difference is that the units use flowing air (co..coo...cooling!) instead of water to move waste through the system.


So, solid wastes are actually being compressed and stored on-board, and then removed after the space shuttle has landed. Waste water is vented to space, although future systems may recycle it. The air is filtered to remove odor and bacteria and then returned to the cabin.


As for their hygience, astronauts can actually brush their teeth just like how they do on Earth. However, they will be stinky as there is no shower on the Shuttle, so astronauts must make do with sponge baths until they return home.


So here is some answers by the Offical NASA website on this question.
I. The Official NASA pages:
A. There is a nice space shuttle web page at: http://shuttle.nasa.gov/ Digging in there I found a Q&A Web page. Here's what it says: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/faq/living.html


6. How do you take a bath, brush your teeth, and go to the bathroom in space?


We do not have a bath or shower on the Shuttle, so we just wash off with wet washcloths, using soaps that you don't have to rinse off. When we brush our teeth, we can either swallow the toothpaste or spit it into a washcloth. Designing a toilet for zero-gravity is tougher. We use air flow to make the urine or feces go where we want, since gravity will not do it for us. You have to be more careful and think about what you are doing with the toilet in the Shuttle.




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