how do astronauts deal with explosive diarrhea
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Space toilets work very much like vacuum cleaners, so they should be able to handle diarrhea.
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Well first off, let’s talk about why astronauts getting diarrhea is uncommon in the first place because I think that’s an even more interesting question. There are three big reasons people typically get diarrhea. The first is that they have some form of chronic disease that causes diarrhea, like crohn’s disease. The second is that they are infected by some sort of germ (virus, bacteria, parasite, etc) that causes diarrhea as a symptom. Finally, a person’s diet is the number one cause of diarrhea, and certain foods and long-term dietary habits can give people diarrhea.
All three of these things are strictly controlled for astronauts. If you have a chronic disease like crohn’s or something similar, you will never be accepted into an astronaut program, so that reason will never be cause for diarrhea for an astronaut. As for diseases caused by germs, astronauts are checked several times for illness before being allowed to go into space. They do this for many reasons. They want their astronauts to be operating at peak efficiency; they want to keep their other astronauts from also getting sick; they want to keep their space equipment sterile; and they want to keep precisely these sort of things from happening, vomit or diarrhea in space could be very bad. Thus, astronauts are sent up healthy and are in a pretty sterile environment, so it’s unlikely they will get sick. Finally, the last common reason for diarrhea is poor diet, but an astronauts diet is also strictly controlled by NASA (and other space agencies). NASA only allows specific foods that have been thoroughly researched for proper nutrition to be brought into space. They also monitor what foods the astronauts are eating to make sure they are eating a proper healthy diet. Thus, it’s unlikely that diet will cause diarrhea either.
However, with all that being said, it’s still possible for an astronaut to get diarrhea. There are just some things that can’t be controlled. The way it’s handled is that it’s hoped that the astronaut can hold it long enough to reach the bathroom. In the bathroom, the toilet has a vacuum cleaner with a cup that can be placed on the “exit.” That way, when the astronaut goes, everything gets sucked into the proper waste repository, and everything else stays clean. They do the same thing with urine. If, however, there is an *accident,* then there are specific cleaning protocols for hazardous waste material (which would also include vomit, urine, toxic chemicals, etc) whereby the astronauts would put on special personal protection equipment and use special cleaning supplies to go around and clean the space station to within an inch of its life. Afterwards, the astronaut in question would be extremely embarrassed and likely would even be reprimanded if not outright barred from flying again since the standards and expectations of astronauts are so high (though I’m not NASA and can’t say that for certain).
Space toilets work very much like vacuum cleaners, so they should be able to handle diarrhea.
Space toilets work very much like vacuum cleaners, so they should be able to handle diarrhea.
Well first off, let’s talk about why astronauts getting diarrhea is uncommon in the first place because I think that’s an even more interesting question. There are three big reasons people typically get diarrhea. The first is that they have some form of chronic disease that causes diarrhea, like crohn’s disease. The second is that they are infected by some sort of germ (virus, bacteria, parasite, etc) that causes diarrhea as a symptom. Finally, a person’s diet is the number one cause of diarrhea, and certain foods and long-term dietary habits can give people diarrhea.
All three of these things are strictly controlled for astronauts. If you have a chronic disease like crohn’s or something similar, you will never be accepted into an astronaut program, so that reason will never be cause for diarrhea for an astronaut. As for diseases caused by germs, astronauts are checked several times for illness before being allowed to go into space. They do this for many reasons. They want their astronauts to be operating at peak efficiency; they want to keep their other astronauts from also getting sick; they want to keep their space equipment sterile; and they want to keep precisely these sort of things from happening, vomit or diarrhea in space could be very bad. Thus, astronauts are sent up healthy and are in a pretty sterile environment, so it’s unlikely they will get sick. Finally, the last common reason for diarrhea is poor diet, but an astronauts diet is also strictly controlled by NASA (and other space agencies). NASA only allows specific foods that have been thoroughly researched for proper nutrition to be brought into space. They also monitor what foods the astronauts are eating to make sure they are eating a proper healthy diet. Thus, it’s unlikely that diet will cause diarrhea either.
However, with all that being said, it’s still possible for an astronaut to get diarrhea. There are just some things that can’t be controlled. The way it’s handled is that it’s hoped that the astronaut can hold it long enough to reach the bathroom. In the bathroom, the toilet has a vacuum cleaner with a cup that can be placed on the “exit.” That way, when the astronaut goes, everything gets sucked into the proper waste repository, and everything else stays clean. They do the same thing with urine. If, however, there is an *accident,* then there are specific cleaning protocols for hazardous waste material (which would also include vomit, urine, toxic chemicals, etc) whereby the astronauts would put on special personal protection equipment and use special cleaning supplies to go around and clean the space station to within an inch of its life. Afterwards, the astronaut in question would be extremely embarrassed and likely would even be reprimanded if not outright barred from flying again since the standards and expectations of astronauts are so high (though I’m not NASA and can’t say that for certain).
Well first off, let’s talk about why astronauts getting diarrhea is uncommon in the first place because I think that’s an even more interesting question. There are three big reasons people typically get diarrhea. The first is that they have some form of chronic disease that causes diarrhea, like crohn’s disease. The second is that they are infected by some sort of germ (virus, bacteria, parasite, etc) that causes diarrhea as a symptom. Finally, a person’s diet is the number one cause of diarrhea, and certain foods and long-term dietary habits can give people diarrhea.
All three of these things are strictly controlled for astronauts. If you have a chronic disease like crohn’s or something similar, you will never be accepted into an astronaut program, so that reason will never be cause for diarrhea for an astronaut. As for diseases caused by germs, astronauts are checked several times for illness before being allowed to go into space. They do this for many reasons. They want their astronauts to be operating at peak efficiency; they want to keep their other astronauts from also getting sick; they want to keep their space equipment sterile; and they want to keep precisely these sort of things from happening, vomit or diarrhea in space could be very bad. Thus, astronauts are sent up healthy and are in a pretty sterile environment, so it’s unlikely they will get sick. Finally, the last common reason for diarrhea is poor diet, but an astronauts diet is also strictly controlled by NASA (and other space agencies). NASA only allows specific foods that have been thoroughly researched for proper nutrition to be brought into space. They also monitor what foods the astronauts are eating to make sure they are eating a proper healthy diet. Thus, it’s unlikely that diet will cause diarrhea either.
However, with all that being said, it’s still possible for an astronaut to get diarrhea. There are just some things that can’t be controlled. The way it’s handled is that it’s hoped that the astronaut can hold it long enough to reach the bathroom. In the bathroom, the toilet has a vacuum cleaner with a cup that can be placed on the “exit.” That way, when the astronaut goes, everything gets sucked into the proper waste repository, and everything else stays clean. They do the same thing with urine. If, however, there is an *accident,* then there are specific cleaning protocols for hazardous waste material (which would also include vomit, urine, toxic chemicals, etc) whereby the astronauts would put on special personal protection equipment and use special cleaning supplies to go around and clean the space station to within an inch of its life. Afterwards, the astronaut in question would be extremely embarrassed and likely would even be reprimanded if not outright barred from flying again since the standards and expectations of astronauts are so high (though I’m not NASA and can’t say that for certain).
It’s happened at least once, on Apollo 8. On Day 2, Frank Borman became ill, with vomiting and diarrhea. As you can imagine, this was rather unpleasant in the small confines of the Apollo capsule, and they had no LEM to retreat to. Basically, they just cleaned up as best they could and carried on.
It’s happened at least once, on Apollo 8. On Day 2, Frank Borman became ill, with vomiting and diarrhea. As you can imagine, this was rather unpleasant in the small confines of the Apollo capsule, and they had no LEM to retreat to. Basically, they just cleaned up as best they could and carried on.
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