Do the Russians/Chinese also Wear Nappies?

[pberrett]

Hi all<br /><br />The recent events concerning Lisa Novak have made me wonder whether the Russians and Chinese also wear nappies getting to, and in space. <br /><br />Also are the Soyuz and Shenzhou spacecraft equipped with onboard toilets? It makes one wonder where these nations stand relative to the US in how advanced or otherwise their toilet technology is. Is the US ahead/behind in this aspect of the space race?<br /><br />Regards Peter

 

[willpittenger]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Shuttle crews have, (or had? I assume it is still there,) the chance for a pit stop at the 195-foot level of the service structure.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />Doing so would require exiting the shuttle and unsuiting. Each is very time consuming and might well require the countdown to be halted. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

Think about it. The Russians would have needed toliets on Mir. Furthermore, I figure there is only one toilet (so far) on ISS. It is probably in a Russian module. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[bpfeifer]

I stumbled accross one of the training modules for Mir, located in Hokkaido, Japan. They bought the thing after the end of the Mir program.<br /><br />Anyway, the toilet was very obvious. I think I have a photo of it. I'll try to dig it it up.<br /><br />As it turns out, one of the few pieces of hardware that failed on the first Shuttle flight was the toilet... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Brian J. Pfeifer http://sabletower.wordpress.com<br /> The Dogsoldier Codex http://www.lulu.com/sabletower<br /> </div>

 

[thinice]

There is a toilet in the habitation section (aka orbital module, "bytovoi otsek") of the Soyuz. Also, some tend to forget that there were space stations for the 20 years before Mir (Salyuts), that of course were equipped with toilets too.

 

[erioladastra]

"I figure there is only one toilet (so far) on ISS. It is probably in a Russian module. "<br /><br />Yes, the toilet is in the Service Module, near the aft. AS someone also noted there is one on the Soyuz and of course the Orbiter. There are also backup measures if the toilet is broken.<br /><br />The diapers are normally worn for launch and EVAs. Generally, the Russians don't wear them during their EVAs (nor use a drink bag) but some do that have trained closely with Americans.

 

[steve82]

If us old guys keep having to support all those interminable meetings, we're all going to be wearing nappies.

 

[willpittenger]

What did Skylab use? Are the STS toilets descendants of the Skylab design? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[kurtwagner]

From http://history.nasa.gov/SP-400/ch5.htm<p /><br /><br />"Kerwin also had kind words about the functioning of Skylab's toilet.<br /><br /><br />"We owe our greatest appreciation to the people who designed it," he said. "It has worked much better than anticipated, and it has been essentially trouble free and not terribly time consuming."<br /><br /><br />The Skylab toilet, designed to function in the weightless environment, bore little resemblance to that found in home bathrooms. It was designed so that crewmen could eliminate body wastes through the necessary acts of urination and defecation. But it also supported biomedical experiments by sampling and preserving certain body wastes and disposing of the remainder. The entire system included a fecal-urine collector, collection and sample bags, sampling equipment, odor control filters, and a fan. The toilet was mounted on the wall rather than the floor of the bathroom, in the crew quarters area.<br /><br /><br />Defecation in space was complicated by the absence of gravity to move waste material away from the body. On Skylab, a hinged, contoured seat provided access to the mesh liner into which the astronaut inserted a fecal collection bag. Air was drawn through the fecal bag from holes in the seat and exhausted through the bag's vapor port, through the mesh liner, into the fecal collection receptacle, and then through a filter, where odors were removed, before it was recirculated into the cabin by a fan. <br /><br /><br />To use the toilet for defecation, the crewman sat on the contoured seat, then fastened a belt across his lap to hold himself securely in position. Handholds and foot restraints allowed him to maintain a sufficiently tight seal on the seat, as airflow from the fan separated the fecal matter from his body and deposited it in the fecal collection bag. A separate fecal bag was used for each defecation.<br /><br /><br />The crewmen could urinate from either a standing or

 

[pberrett]

Hi again<br /><br />Last weekend I went to Scienceworks which is a children's museum here in Melbourne Australia.<br /><br />By pure coincidence they had a space exhibition (including a neat shuttle landing simulator - great fun). The exhibition included an early russian women' urine collection device which was shaped something like a curved cup (needs little imagination) with an absorbent nappy like fabric inside. <br /><br />I don't know if Russian femaile cosmonauts still use them - it seems a bit bulky for practical use. <br /><br />I reckon the Russian male cosmonauts (who no doubt consider themselves fairly manly) would be having a few laughs about the fact that US astronauts wear nappies. <br /><br />That aside I can't help laughing everytime I now see a film of a shuttle launch or an astronaut mission and I think of the reality of the astronauts in nappies. It just isn't "The Right Stuff".<br /><br />cheers Peter<br />

 

[thinice]

<i>I don't know if Russian femaile cosmonauts still use them</i><br /><br />There are no acting Russian female cosmonauts.

 

[askold]

You never see this mentioned in the astronaut recruitment posters ..

 

[rocketman5000]

You've seen the posters?? Lucky you.....

 

[askold]

Those "Ads by Google" at the top of the page must have really good context sensitive algorithms.<br /><br />For this thread I get ads for the "up-flush toilet" and the "Peter Potty" toddler urinal.<br /><br />Amazing.

 

[willpittenger]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>There are no acting Russian female cosmonauts.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />Why not? Is there a legitimate (or at least semi-legitimate) reason for the discrimination? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

What ads? I don't see any. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[bpfeifer]

"There are no acting Russian female cosmonauts."<br /><br />"Why not? Is there a legitimate (or at least semi-legitimate) reason for the discrimination?"<br /><br />I believe there is currently one in training. I remember reading something about the current state of astronaut recruitment in Russia on Ruspace: http://ruspace.blogspot.com/ <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Brian J. Pfeifer http://sabletower.wordpress.com<br /> The Dogsoldier Codex http://www.lulu.com/sabletower<br /> </div>

 

[yevaud]

<i>...as airflow from the fan separated the fecal matter...</i><br /><br />Well well. A real life example of it hitting the fan. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[sorehed]

I saw Storey Musgrave on television once talking about the shuttle, and saying how when in need of relief they wanted to get to orbit because it was quicker than unstrapping. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[thinice]

<i>Is there a legitimate (or at least semi-legitimate) reason for the discrimination?</i><br /><br />Russian society is not that feminized, and this is just not considered as discrimination.

 

[willpittenger]

Story was a spacewalker. It is unknown if his age would have caused problems outside the orbiter. Glenn was along only as a "geriatric" experiment. All he had to do was exercise and get himself poked by needles on regular basis. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[erioladastra]

"Story was a spacewalker. It is unknown if his age would have caused problems outside the orbiter. "<br /><br />1) Story was well trained, and had done, other tasks. 2) He was fully fit and certified for space walking so there is no reason to think he would have any problems. If anything, Story had demonstrated that finesse, not brut strenght was more critical.

 

[sorehed]

I met Story at the KSC visitors center at one of those "Meet an Astronaut" things for the kids. I used my own kids as an excuse for talking to him. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />Really nice guy. I was impressed by the fact that he stayed as long as it took to meet and take pictures with every kid who wanted it and never seemed to be bored. I also found it interesting that he wasn't just a science geek, but had a very diverse educational background.