How do toilets work in space?

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asked Jul 13, 2022 in Science by RCallahan (13,590 points)
How do toilets work in space?

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answered Jul 16, 2022 by Havingsaid (8,270 points)
Toilets in space use airflow and suction to pull urine and feces away from the body otherwise the urine and feces or poop would float around in space.

Toilets in space work by using air flow to pull urine and feces away from the body and into the proper receptacles.

A new feature of the UWMS is the automatic start of air flow when the toilet lid is lifted, which also helps with odor control.

Waste in space is collected in different manners depending on the type of waste.

For poop the poop is typically collected in a special toilet and then eventually burned while the pee is collected in a special toilet device that then recycles the urine into drinkable water.

Current waste disposal methods on the International Space Station rely on astronauts manually processing trash by placing it into bags then loading it onto a designated vehicle for short term storage, which depending on the craft, returns the trash to Earth or burns up in the atmosphere.

Astronauts drink pee because it's an easy way to make water from the pee up in space instead of transporting heavy water into space.

Astronauts drink recycled urine because of the limited availability of water on board the spaceship.

The Astronauts recycle urine into drinkable water so they will have enough water to drink and save on water that they would otherwise have to haul to space with them.

Water is a precious and limited resource in space, so International Space Station crew members recycle it whenever possible, including recycling their own urine.

It only takes about eight days for the systems on the space station to process water.

Urine is boiled in the distillation assembly and delivered to the water processor, where it undergoes a cycle of filtration and chemical purification until it is usable by the crew – reducing costs associated with launching heavy water shipments to the station from Earth.

Water is heavy and hard to transport into orbit, which is why the International Space Station is a champion when it comes to recycling.

Even astronaut urine is captured and processed to make it drinkable.

Nearly all of the water astronauts drink and shower with comes from their urine and sweat.

Storage is hard to come by aboard the International Space Station.

An astronaut is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft.

Astronauts are paid according to the federal government's General Schedule pay scale, and they can fall on the GS-11 through GS-14 pay grades.

The pay grade is based on an astronaut's academic achievements and experience.

The starting salary for GS-11 employees is $53,805.00

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