Food: Packaging: Can
Astronaut Food Container / Toilet Combo For Space   (+2)  [vote for, against]
Eat the food, when you're done digesting it, crap in the can and seal it up.

Comes with toilet paper, sani-wipes etc.

Eliminates the need to carry two different containers.

The "This Has Been Used" cap would be very clearly indicative of the current contents to avoid un-pleasant surprises.
-- doctorremulac3, Oct 20 2018

Space toilets are a much more complicated piece of plumbing.
-- RayfordSteele, Oct 20 2018


Heh, I just got a flash of what it would be like for plumbers in space.
Down here they say the only two things you need to remember are;
Shit runs downhill.
Don't chew your nails.

Up there... why you wouldn't even need a fan to hit.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 20 2018


//Space toilets are a much more complicated piece of plumbing.//

I'm going to strongly resist the idea of defending this idea, I'll just say that they didn't always have space toilets.

And leave it at that.
-- doctorremulac3, Oct 20 2018


// they didn't always have space toilets. //

No shit, Sherlock ...
-- 8th of 7, Oct 20 2018


Actually I wonder if they feed astronauts foods that cause like 1/2 to 3/4 less poo on purpose. Nuts and foods high in digestible protein and oil. Possibly even probiotics that cause less frequent stools.
-- beanangel, Oct 20 2018


Pretty safe to say after all the other problems with getting a man in orbit were worked out, somebody said: "Hey, how to they go to the bathroom?" Which was answered by "Going to the bathroom is not the problem, it's keeping piss and shit from flying around the spacecraft. We'll start with diapers and get more elegant from there."

It's not talked about a lot. These were heroes remember. Kind of takes away from the image seeing them on a Huggies commercial.

Many people know this already but I'll repeat it. NASA asked the astronauts the size of their manhood so they could properly fit them with rubber sheath to prevent leakage into the suit. The original sizes were small, medium and large which after a bit of consideration of the astronaut's egos were changed to large, gigantic, and humongous.

It's that kind of problem solving that put us on the Moon.
-- doctorremulac3, Oct 20 2018


I'm thinking they might already consider the small doodoo din dins no? If not that seems like a pretty good idea.
-- doctorremulac3, Oct 20 2018


The "low residue diet" is indeed used, but is only practical for a short time, after which serious problems with bowel function develop; on return to a planetary environment it's time to reload with plenty of bulky fibre to restore "normal" throughput.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 20 2018


I thought they solved that at about the same time astronauts stopped throwing the cigarette butts out of the windows?
-- not_morrison_rm, Oct 21 2018


They haven't stopped ...

Ironically, rocket launch pads are liberally blazoned with huge NO SMOKING signs, and matches and lighters are forbidden; then they set fire to hundreds of tons of sometimes toxic propellants, resulting in a vast cloud of smoke and flame ...
-- 8th of 7, Oct 21 2018



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