![]() That’s a long time not being able to go, and eventually Shepard gave in. Technical difficulties and bad weather would leave Shepard sat waiting for launch for over 4 hours. sat waiting for launch in a mission that was only supposed to last 15 minutes. Take the first manned American space flight on May 5, 1961, for example, in which Alan B. ![]() The astronaut would just have to wait until they were back on solid Earth.īut as anyone who follows the history of human spaceflight knows, missions don’t always go to plan. Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, was only up there for 1 hour and 48 minutes. But why would they? The first flights weren’t planned to be long. With NASA concentrating on getting the first American man into space, maybe it hadn’t given much thought to what would happen if an astronaut needed to relieve themselves after they had been shot into space. So we decided to look into how astronauts get the job done, how complicated it may be and just where all that waste goes when there are no sewers around. We've grown used to being able to drop our pants and sit on toilets like these whenever we want, but it isn't as easy as that in space. Admiring the beauty of our planet is all well and good, but if you really need a wee when you're doing it then it's somewhat going to mar the experience. It's something we do daily here on Earth, so it's not surprising to hear that people want to know just how they're going to empty their bladders when they're in the darkness of space. But apparently one question is asked quite often, and it concerns curiosity about how to go to the toilet in space. It's something that most of us could only dream of, so when astronauts talk to members of the public they expect a degree of enthusiasm about what it's like up there. These are all questions that could be directed to astronauts, those lucky few who are given the opportunity to spend time amongst the stars. "Does it make you feel small to look out at the stars and wonder where our place is in all this?" "What's it like looking down on the cradle of humanity?"
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