02-10-2003, 05:46 AM
As NASA astronaut Kenneth Cockrell told journalist Mark Bowden about the rigors of space travel, "You don't hear astronauts complaining about it, but what you do see are people who come back lying about how great the experience was and then quietly leave the program."
Or perhaps they leave because of what weightlessness does to their bathroom habits. (Imagine floating vomit. Now imagine something grosser.) Astronauts urinate into vacuum-powered bags, and bowel movements require the use of a special toilet, four inches in diameter. Astronauts train in an earth-bound NASA-built model, practicing the use of retaining bars to prevent themselves from floating away. The model toilet has a camera in it, so astronauts can see how they're doing. (That's right, part of training to become an astronaut involves watching your own ass on television.) Once in space, however, there is a plus side: "A rite of space flight is to urinate upside down," an astronaut told the Washington Post.
th rest of it
Or perhaps they leave because of what weightlessness does to their bathroom habits. (Imagine floating vomit. Now imagine something grosser.) Astronauts urinate into vacuum-powered bags, and bowel movements require the use of a special toilet, four inches in diameter. Astronauts train in an earth-bound NASA-built model, practicing the use of retaining bars to prevent themselves from floating away. The model toilet has a camera in it, so astronauts can see how they're doing. (That's right, part of training to become an astronaut involves watching your own ass on television.) Once in space, however, there is a plus side: "A rite of space flight is to urinate upside down," an astronaut told the Washington Post.
th rest of it