Astronauts have diarrhea, flying stools in spacecraft and things NASA has never told

So the first sci-fi blockbuster in 2022 has hit theaters: Moonfall tells the story of the event that the Moon falls out of orbit and threatens the Earth with a 6th doomsday disaster. World movie scenarios These stories often contain a lot of drama, but they also raise a lot of questions for us. Such as:

What if our atmosphere suddenly ripped apart, and oxygen started to spill out into space like a torn air mattress? Is the moon an artificial satellite, it is completely hollow and has been disguised by alien technology?

Can the US government avert an impending space catastrophe, simply by firing a nuclear rocket into the core of the Moon, a giant satellite?

But Moonfall also raises a very real question, one that astronauts and doctors monitoring their health at NASA face every day: What if they develop diarrhea during space?

For various reasons several cases of diarrhea have been reported on spaceflight.

It must also be said that the film does not have any details describing that situation. But it leaves open the possibility that one character, a reluctant astronaut with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), would have to board a spaceship immediately without making it to the toilet.

The chances of him having diarrhea up there are pretty great. But thankfully, "IBS shouldn't be an exclusionary factor stopping you from going into space or applying for an astronaut position for NASA," says Mika McKinnon, Moonfall's science advisor, a geophysicist and disaster researcher said.

According to a risk report released by NASA's Human Research Project in 2016, "for various reasons several cases of diarrhea have been reported on spaceflight".

But the report doesn't stop there, a short, informative line. We don't know which astronauts actually got diarrhea, in what year of flight or mission, so we can't find them for an interview.

So the quickest approach is to ask a NASA doctor, who takes care of all aspects of an astronaut's health, including their intestinal issues.

1. Astronauts have to go to the toilet in a split-shift fashion

Josef Schmid, a doctor at NASA, confirmed that the US space program took into account all bowel-related problems, including astronaut diarrhea.

Everyone's stomach has problems from time to time, whether they are astronauts or ordinary people, Schmid said. "There is one thing that I was taught as a student in medical school, which I still remember to this day: No one is truly perfectly healthy, only the one we We just haven't looked into it yet."

In fact, even the healthiest astronauts can experience bowel incontinence, as most people with irritable bowel syndrome are on the ground.

How do astronauts defecate in space?

The problem is that on the International Space Station ISS, you only have 2 restrooms, one of which even has a broken period due to a malfunction. The number of astronauts that the ISS maintains is about 6-7 members, at its peak up to 13 people. Therefore, astronauts often have to divide the toilet in shifts to avoid overlapping schedules. 

It's weird having to go to the bathroom in shifts, but that counts as part of their workday. On the International Space Station, everything, every mission is very clearly scheduled.

Ironically, going to the bathroom is not something you want to be. So most astronauts to go to the toilet have to push. Dr. Schmid says that even with a schedule, no one can keep a perfect toileting schedule. As a result, astronauts are encouraged to pass stool during their toileting shift.

And the reverse is the same, there are times when you will have to wait until your shift. But if you really have diarrhea and need to go to the bathroom urgently, you'll have to negotiate with the person in there, an astronaut struggling to go to the bathroom during his shift.

2. Astronauts are more prone to constipation than diarrhea

"As a NASA doctor, one of the things I ask astronauts every day, after they're in orbit, is: 'How do you eat?' The next sentence is, 'You go. Is the hygiene good?", Schmid said.

He added that most astronauts in the early days of orbit were constipated. That's because these flights all put them in stressful situations. And stress can cause intestinal upset in both directions, diarrhea or apple. Gravity and eating habits are the other factors that push the astronauts backward more.

Specifically, during the launch of the spacecraft into orbit, astronauts will have to sit in a position with their feet at heart level. This position causes fluid to accumulate and makes it easier for them to need to urinate. Therefore, to avoid the sadness that occurs right in the middle of a critical period, astronauts often limit drinking water before their launch day.

 Astronauts often limit their drinking water before their launch day.

Drinking less water can cause constipation, and so astronauts' first days aboard the ISS are often tough bowel movements. Fortunately, NASA has arranged a light work schedule for them in those days.

So, astronauts can rest assured that if they don't get all the waste out of their toilet shift, they can come back on another shift to do it, as long as it doesn't coincide with other missions. other astronauts.

3. Feces used to fly freely in spaceships

Returning to the flight from the ground to orbit, the question is what if the astronauts can't hold it? Indeed, on launch vehicles such as Russia's Soyuz spacecraft, astronauts will have to wear a super absorbent diaper, which they can urinate in.

As for defecation, they have a potty. The astronauts were instructed to wrap the outside of the potty with a 3-layer plastic bag, defecate in it and then pack the waste. But back in the 1960s-1970s Apollo mission, the crew members didn't even have a potty.

They were only instructed to stick a plastic bag directly on their buttocks and then defecate straight into it. And on the way from Earth to the Moon, the zero gravity environment will cause the droppings to float. Astronauts will have to use their hands to catch them. Of course, usually they just move outside of the plastic bag.

The Apollo 10 flight and the conversation were declassified by NASA.

Because of that, there was a particular time on the Apollo 10 mission, the astronauts found a bunch of flying grass in the ship. It caused Commander Tom Stafford to say, "Oh, who did that?".

As a result, no one accepted, the grass remains a mystery. But as you might have guessed, if an astronaut let his poop hang in the air, even just a little, grass could grow out of it.

4. Astronauts' droppings are released into the atmosphere and burn like a meteor

Today, to reduce faecal incidents in space, astronauts will have the option of taking an enema before takeoff. This will help them avoid feeling sad about going to the emergency room on the flight.

The entire ISS crew must also adhere to a strictly monitored diet and drinking schedule. Partly for the purpose of maintaining their health, but also to ensure smooth use of the toilet.

"All astronauts go through toilet training," Dr. Schmid said with a laugh. The toilet on the ISS is different from the toilet on the ground, it is like a vacuum cleaner and can suck your waste inside.

With the suction from this machine, the spacecraft will limit the problems like on Apollo 10. But both Schmid and McKinnon tried to explain, the vacuum cleaner is more than simply sucking up the astronaut's waste and blowing it. it's out into space.

That's because faeces and urine will most likely clump together, and stick right to the outer surface of a spacecraft or satellite. Instead, the waste on the ISS is all repackaged, and then they send it to cargo ships that still resupply the astronauts.

When the spacecraft returns to the atmosphere, all the new waste is released, which will burn up in the process like shooting stars.

When the ship returned to the atmosphere, all the new waste was released.

Going back to Moonfall, it seems that the astronauts were using an old-fashioned spacecraft similar to the one in the Apollo mission. So, if the amateur astronaut is reluctant to have diarrhea during his trip from Earth to the Moon, he will be taught by the main character (a veteran NASA astronaut) how to use a plastic bag. glued to the buttock.

But also tell that guy to be careful, or else the grass will grow in their spaceship again.