From peeing in a 'roll-on cuff' to pooping into a bag: A brief history of how astronauts have gone to the bathroom in space for 57 years

NASA

Astronauts may be exceptionally brave, intelligent, and accomplished, but they're not superhuman: they still have to poop and pee when they leave Earth.

But as NASA was working to get the first humans into space in the early 60s, the agency didn't focus much on how astronauts would empty their bladders and evacuate their bowels once they were up there.

Then in 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard — the first person in space — was forced to pee his pants on the launchpad. NASA quickly realized that the lack of planning presented a rather messy problem.

The agency needed a more serious bathroom-break plan, but solutions weren't easy. After the Apollo missions ended in 1975, engineers described defecation and urination as the "bothersome aspects of space travel." 

A variety of makeshift solutions have been sent into space, including pee bags, roll on "cuffs," diapers, strappy toilet seats, and $19 million commodes. Contraptions for "going" while weightless have gotten a little more comfortable, and astronauts are now generally good at keeping waste from floating around.

But retired astronaut Peggy Whitson, who logged a record-breaking 665 days in space for NASA, recently said that going to the bathroom in space was her least favorite part of working in zero gravity. 

Here's the full story of how astronauts have relieved themselves in space, from 1961 to now:

On May 5, 1961, when Alan Shepard piloted the first human space flight for the US, there was no pee plan. The flight was only supposed to last for around 15 minutes. But the engineers didn’t consider how long Shepard might have to sit on the launchpad first.

Shepard sat inside the nosecone for some time, then realized his bladder was getting uncomfortably full. The crew insisted he stay put, so Shepard let them know he was going to go in his seat.  

"Of course with a cotton undergarment, which we had on, it soaked up immediately," he later said. "I was totally dry by the time we launched."

After that, NASA started giving astronauts some urination equipment.

Some of the first pee-catchers looked like urine condoms and came in three sizes. NASA called them roll-on cuffs, and they were not designed to be used by women.

The latex cuff was connected to a plastic tube, valve, clamp, and a collection bag. It wasn't a great system, and sometimes leaked. 

The cuffs were what John Glenn used on his Mercury Atlas 6 mission — the first time a human went into orbit for NASA. The flight lasted 4 hours and 55 minutes.

Source: NASA

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SEE ALSO: A NASA astronaut who spent 665 days circling the planet reveals the misery of going to the bathroom in space