How Do Astronauts Go to the Bathroom in Space?

How Do Astronauts Go to the Bathroom in Space?

They may need a combination of brains, guts, strength and skill—the “right stuff” but they also need to be potty trainable. How do astronauts go to the bathroom in space? Sure enough, the answer includes plenty of tubes, wires, suction cups and, of course, checklists.A new National Geographic Channel special lays out the intricate contraption known as “WCS” or “waste collection system.” This ingenious device, which instills a bizarre admiration for the engineer or engineers whose job was to design it, allows cosmonauts to urinate and defecate at zero gravity without, as the bashful NASA spokesman in the video says, having an “escapee floating around the cabin.”

Turns out, however, that it takes a little training to use the WCS—including learning to sit in the correct position

If executed properly, an astronaut’s feces is sucked into a garbage bag that is stored and then returned to earth with other refuse. Urine is discarded out into space.