Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space?
Greets, Matt:
We recently read about the fellow trying to circle the globe in a balloon. This raised a serious question for us. Uh...what does he do with his #1 and #2? Moreover, how do astronauts handle this? Is it bagged for an "earthly" disposal, or do they let it fly like the birds? Thanks, we knew you could help.
-- #1 and #2, Ocean Beach
NASA has made great strides in the field of interplanetary poop. Apollo astronauts used diapers and plastic bags for #1 and #2, respectively. When toilets came on board, the disposal system could hold the waste of seven astronauts for two weeks at most. This became the limiting factor for the length of space missions until the new models were developed. An astronaut straps him/herself onto the new, improved zero-gravity john, creating a vacuum between butt and seat. Air streams direct #1 into a collection tank; #2 goes into a "breathable" plastic bag, it's vacuum dried to prevent bacterial growth, then compacted and stored on board. Liquid wastes, including #1, are periodically sprayed into space in tiny frozen, dust-like particles "to fly like the birds." The prototype of the new toilet system cost NASA $23 million, so long-distance balloonists must solve the problem another way. Most often, their capsules are fitted with chemical toilets and holding tanks, with no 1s or 2s flying anywhere, we hope. But thanks for asking.
Here's something you might be interested in.
How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space?
How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space?
Greets, Matt:
We recently read about the fellow trying to circle the globe in a balloon. This raised a serious question for us. Uh...what does he do with his #1 and #2? Moreover, how do astronauts handle this? Is it bagged for an "earthly" disposal, or do they let it fly like the birds? Thanks, we knew you could help.
-- #1 and #2, Ocean Beach
NASA has made great strides in the field of interplanetary poop. Apollo astronauts used diapers and plastic bags for #1 and #2, respectively. When toilets came on board, the disposal system could hold the waste of seven astronauts for two weeks at most. This became the limiting factor for the length of space missions until the new models were developed. An astronaut straps him/herself onto the new, improved zero-gravity john, creating a vacuum between butt and seat. Air streams direct #1 into a collection tank; #2 goes into a "breathable" plastic bag, it's vacuum dried to prevent bacterial growth, then compacted and stored on board. Liquid wastes, including #1, are periodically sprayed into space in tiny frozen, dust-like particles "to fly like the birds." The prototype of the new toilet system cost NASA $23 million, so long-distance balloonists must solve the problem another way. Most often, their capsules are fitted with chemical toilets and holding tanks, with no 1s or 2s flying anywhere, we hope. But thanks for asking.
Comments