HEALTH AND SANITATION 37
Space Toilets Help Astronauts Boldly Go -Part 1
By
Stephen Webb
Safely and Sanitarily Relieving Oneself in Zero Gravity Requires Some Real Rocket Science .
David Viola , IAPMO CEO
In the spirit of the sharing of unique experiences that shape the plumbing industries in our respective nations , the following article looks at the history of plumbing in outer space . Written by Correspondent Stephen Webb , it is the next in a regular series of similar articles that will run in this magazine .
Jeff Ortiz / IAPMO
The historic SpaceX Insiration4 mission may be remembered as much for what went wrong as what it accomplished . While sending an all-civilian crew into orbit for the first time and ushering in a new era of civilian space flight , it did encounter a slight problem with the toilet that was reported in virtually every account of the mission after it was over .
The Inspiration4 crew ’ s toilet was located on the ceiling near the nosecone where a docking mechanism used for flights to the International Space Station ( ISS ) had been replaced by a dome or “ cupola .” Offering an immersive 360-degree view of space , mission commander and financier Jared Isaacman concluded that because of the cupola ’ s proximity to the toilet , “ When people inevitably have to use the bathroom , they ’ re going to have one hell of a view .”
“ Because of this , astronauts essentially have to become “ space plumbers ,” receiving extensive training in space toilet maintenance and repair before they qualify for launch .”
August 2022 Volume 28 I Number 6 www . plumbingafrica . co . za