When astronauts visit schools, they are inevitably asked about the bathrooms in space. So, when I did an hour-long Zoom with Woody Hoberg up in the ISS, as we explored the station, we had to make a pit stop — you can jump to that part of the full video.

The Russian toilet they all use is even more insane than I imagined. I knew about the “technique” required, but I did not appreciate the stockpile of waste-filled metal canisters filling up one of the Russian modules awaiting disposal by Cygnus. It’s like having a metal diaper genie and throwing the whole heavy unit away when it fills.

One response to “The Insane Russian Toilet in Space”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    We both agree that EVAs are the peak space experience (minute 20). You can jump to minute 16:10 for a discussion of what should we breathe in space. At minute 31:16, we discuss my dream of testing mammalian fetal development in Martian gravity (a simple spin hab in LEO). And then a tour of the ISS at 39:24. From the video:
    We are both high power rocketry enthusiasts, and that is how he found me (from my TED Talk). He went up on SpaceX Crew 6 and was five months into Expedition 69 at this point.

    We started in the JEM Kibo module, where I happened to have taken a photo of it pre-launch! Details Live video call to the Japanese Experiment Module in orbitAnd here is the Cygnus, the latest arrival to station at the time: Those filled metal canisters for as far as the eye can see are awaiting disposal by this Cygnus "trash can" that burns up on reentry.

    I’ll refrain from comment on NASA having a Woody on Expedition 69 🙂

    Reply

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