In the weightless environment of space station , defecation and defecation are a very troublesome and complicated matter.
Take Shenzhou 14 as an example. The three astronauts will stay in orbit for 6 months. Going to the toilet is an unavoidable topic. If it is not handled properly, it will not only smell bad, but also pose challenges to the flight safety of the space station.
Let’s talk about urination first. There is no gravity in the space station, and urine will not be too solid. After it is excreted from the body, it will float in the air. What is even more worrying is that no matter what container is used to collect urine, the urine may bounce back when it encounters objects.
This is quite embarrassing. I originally wanted to make it convenient, but I didn't expect that I might get all over myself. In the early days of the International Space Station, there was a tube. All the astronauts had to do was aim it and work hard to get results.
In order to prevent urine from running around, there will be a certain negative pressure in the tube, which can absorb the urine
liquid in time. The principle of this method is very simple, but the requirements for astronauts are relatively high. If you are not careful, it may cause a "flood".
When astronauts are training on the ground, they will be specially trained to practice and adapt to this way of going to the toilet in advance. Generally speaking, this way of urinating is more difficult for female astronauts.
Urination is solved, what if the astronaut needs to defecate?
Astronauts must be more careful when solving defecation problems. Diarrhea will be even more troublesome. In the early days of the International Space Station's construction, researchers struggled to solve the toilet problem for astronauts.
In order not to affect the advancement of the overall space program , early astronauts mostly used a sealable bag when they needed to defecate. Today's space stations are equipped with special toilets, but you still have to be careful when using them.
The space toilet is much smaller than the toilet at home. When astronauts use it, they must first fix themselves to avoid being bounced away by the reaction force.
Next, the astronauts must aim at the collection port of the space toilet to ensure that no accidents occur. Since the space station has no gravity, there will also be a negative pressure in the space toilet to prevent excrement from flying everywhere.
At this time, the astronauts are working hard to produce results, and the toilet is responsible for taking away the results, which makes the whole process much more convenient. Although the problem of astronauts going to the toilet can be solved, there are still two difficulties.
On the one hand, urination and defecation cannot be done at the same time, especially for male astronauts; on the other hand, if several people want to go to the toilet at the same time, they have to wait in line.
The problem of astronauts going to the toilet has been solved, but what will be done with the results of the elimination?
A space toilet used by astronauts to defecate is worth nearly 20 million US dollars, which can be exchanged for a large villa. Such an expensive toilet has to solve more than just toilet problems.
The space in the space station is limited, the energy is limited, and the resources are also very limited. Therefore, there are very high requirements for the size, weight, volume, power, noise, etc. of the toilet.
In addition, the space toilet will also be responsible for the recycling and processing of excrement. The resources in the space station are very limited, and water is more expensive than gold, so the secondary use of excrement is very important.
The astronauts’ urine will go through a series of purification treatments and become drinking water again. The poop also extracts its water, and the remainder is transferred to a cargo spacecraft to eventually burn up in the atmosphere.
's recycling of excrement is not only to save money, but also to provide conditions for further deep space manned exploration missions. For example, a one-way trip to Mars in the future will take half a year, and a round trip may take two years.
Not only water, the feces of astronauts in the future may also be used as organic fertilizer for growing vegetables. In short, there is no small matter in the space station. In addition to solving the toilet problem of astronauts, we must also fully consider the efficient use of resources.
Follow me to not get lost and take you to learn more about aerospace knowledge.
