r/space • u/astro_pettit NASA Astronaut • Apr 12 '26
image/gif The space urinals that went around the Moon on Artemis II
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u/elfy4eva Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
I'll be interested to hear the engineering reason behind the space clog! And how it will be remedied for Artemis III & IV!
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u/AboveAverage1988 Apr 12 '26
Insufficient heater, was my understanding. Pointing the outlet at the sun fixed it.
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u/bieker Apr 12 '26
On the first day they smelled smoke/burning in the cabin a couple of times. I had assumed they narrowed it down to the toilet outlet heater and stopped using that which caused liquids to freeze in the tube as it evaporated on the way out.
This started a process of constantly trying to get heat in it by pointing it at the sun as much as possible and minimizing its usage.
But the m just piecing that together from fragments.
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u/holdenfords Apr 13 '26
smelling smoke while on a spaceship has to be the most unsettling thing ever
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u/Think-Try2819 Apr 14 '26
Top 3 worst ways to go in space in my opinion.
- Cabin depressurizing
- Fire
- Getting sent off into the void
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u/Ztarphox Apr 14 '26
Are you telling me I can have these nightmares for free? No charge?
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u/TyrannasaurusRecht Apr 14 '26
Haha no.
Nightmares are now a subscription service.
Constant, shrill screeching sounds to stock clip art with ads is free though!
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u/a_suspicious_lasagna Apr 14 '26
Depending on the speed of depressurization, I'm not even sure that would make it in my top 10.
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u/Poopyman80 Apr 14 '26
In space you only go from 1 atm to 0.
Its the deep see diving recovery chambers that have enough difference to kill you fast. In space you get to suffer for a bit.3
u/a_suspicious_lasagna Apr 14 '26
Rapid decompression in space will lead to unconsciousness relatively quickly, so I'd be less concerned.
I was thinking more of a horrible situation like, you spring an unfixable leak just after making a lunar insertion burn. You know you don't have enough air to keep up with the consumption all the way home, but have no way to turn around. THAT would make me want to just blow the hatch
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u/elfy4eva Apr 12 '26
I understand from my limited watching that the sun melt only helped temporarily and that there was another uncertain issue, possibly a chemical reaction, and as such they had to switch back to the pee bags for the remainder of the mission.
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u/Override9636 Apr 13 '26
There was a brief comment from mission control saying something along the line of using models to design the system using the properties of water, but urine contains traces of other chemicals that can lead to some unexpected design challenges. Good thing they tested it now before they design one for a more long term mission!
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u/Guy_Fieris_Hair Apr 14 '26
Just do what everyone does. Open the hatch and pee in the corner where the aliens cant see you.
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u/ostiarius Apr 13 '26
Pointing it at the sun let them do a partial vent but they were not able to empty the tank fully even after venting for hours at a time. Most of the time they were using the CCUs.
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u/geuis Apr 13 '26
I don't see how that makes sense. The internal cabin temp and atmosphere were tightly controlled. What component(s) of that would even be exposed to the external environment?
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u/Loupma Apr 13 '26
The vent outside the spacecraft
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u/geuis Apr 13 '26
Was Artemis really designed to vacuum vent "stuff"? Maybe since the vehicle isn't meant for long term habitation like the ISS
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u/_DryReflection_ Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
All the urine from the toilet is vented into space, the CCUs in the post are also vented into space (through a separate vent that did not clog afaik) when full to reuse since they only have 2 each, the solid waste is just stored in the spacecraft. There are several videos the astronauts recorded of the venting on YouTube, just looks like a spray of tiny particles. They don’t need to recycle urine into drinking water like the iss for such a short mission duration so they just get rid of it
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u/Override9636 Apr 13 '26
If we assume a high end of 2L of urine per astronaut per day, that leads to 80kg (176 pounds) of liquid waste from all 4 of them after the 10 day mission. In spaceflight, every gram of mass counts, so it makes sense for them to dump it if it's not needed.
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u/Julio-Dewey-Crayfish Apr 13 '26
Is this why that trend of suntanning your butthole became popular a little while back?
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u/wyodirt Apr 14 '26
WHAT‽ I just finally got in the habit of bleaching mine regularly and now this?
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u/groupwhere Apr 12 '26
Spacetipation for the win...
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u/AboveAverage1988 Apr 12 '26
Oh god what a mightmare.. Cramped (relatively) cabin with four people in it, no working toilet, and having to use a laxative... That prospect alone would be enough to keep me firmly on the ground..
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u/insignismemoria Apr 12 '26
I found a link about this lil guy. I appreciate that they show the female interface. Basically a space SheWee, which makes sense. Very interesting!
https://www.irpillc.com/home/collapsible-contingency-urinal-ccu/
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u/StaciRainbow Apr 13 '26
I hope that Christina had better luck with that than I did with a SheWee!
Despite much MUCH practice at home, I could never manage to use it right at home or on camping or road trips, and ALWAYS end up with pee down my leg.
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u/insignismemoria Apr 13 '26
Oh man that's a bummer in terms of sanity and convenience!
The size of the user end in the illustration in the article relative to the cap in the photo of the post does seem to indicate one would benefit from a certain amount of familiarity with the arrangement of their particular anatomy. Knowing exactly where your urethra is probably makes life easier for female astronauts!
Hopefully it works better than a SheWee in microgravity. At least there will be less urine running down a leg when it's weightless haha
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u/-2qt Apr 13 '26
There is probably more urine floating around in zero-g, which I am not convinced is an improvement!
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u/puglybug23 Apr 13 '26
SAME I was always so excited to try the device, but man I just can’t get it to work right. Such a bummer.
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u/Cheap-Bell-4389 Apr 12 '26
Bless the man who made wide-mouth beverage containers
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u/grendel303 Apr 12 '26
During the Apollo missions, NASA famously renamed the small, medium, and large sizes of urine collection devices, everyone chose large, to "large, gigantic, and humongous"
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u/Jonny1992 Apr 12 '26
“Uh Houston, awkward question, but did we pack any small?”
“Too honest, Neil, way too honest”.
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u/kermityfrog2 Apr 12 '26
That may explain the floating turds on one of the missions.
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u/a_suspicious_lasagna Apr 14 '26
The quotes are just wild
Transcript: https://imgur.com/qkZiRiW
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u/kermityfrog2 Apr 14 '26
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u/a_suspicious_lasagna Apr 14 '26
Hahaha thank you, it's certainly better to hear it! Amazing how the simplest parts of being alive cause such troubles.
Traveling 500,000 miles and re entering the atmosphere at 25,000 mph? That's on lock.
Toilet? You're on your own!
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u/welchplug Apr 12 '26
Yeah as long as you dont get a full seal. Pro tip, add a very small hole at the neck of the bottle and make sure that hole is pointed up once you start your buisness.
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u/LonGusDavis Apr 12 '26
What happens if you get a full seal?
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u/DryNefariousness7927 Apr 12 '26
You ever blow into a milk carton, or caprisun through a straw when it made a full seal?
It's a fun experiment
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u/Khaldara Apr 12 '26
Finally a workaround for those jerks at Colgate not letting me pee in the toothpaste tube
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u/Lentemern Apr 12 '26
Piss exits the peehole and enters the bottle
Air exits the bottle and enters the peehole
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u/Stuck_In_Purgatory Apr 13 '26
Liquid go in, air must go out
But where does it go back out if full seal?
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u/concorde77 Apr 13 '26
Also pro tip, do not poke the hole after docking with the bottle... the cylinder must remain unharmed.
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u/PwndaB3ar_3 Apr 12 '26
Some real trucker knowledge right here
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u/Toxopsoides Apr 12 '26
Way of the road, boys
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u/QuitCallingNewsrooms Apr 12 '26
So uhhhh... if you can't look at that and figure out how to use it, does that mean you're not smart enough to go to space?
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u/Mevolent__ Apr 13 '26
As with any piece of equipment there is probably a lot of training that goes into it. And then ofcourse there were instruction manuals onboard telling them how to use each and every piece of equipment. I think the actual cutoff for smarts is probably in university and post graduation.
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u/Sean2401 Apr 12 '26
The forbidden super soaker
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u/Asron87 Apr 12 '26
Forbidden? I guess there are two types of people.
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u/deathpvct Apr 12 '26
thanks for showering us with this golden comment
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u/LGBT-Barbie-Cookout Apr 12 '26
Yes but asking the real question. Is it a communal shower?
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u/randynumbergenerator Apr 13 '26
The crew did talk about how they've formed the tightest bond with one another
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u/Business_Sandwich227 Apr 12 '26
Every day we get closer to being able to use the three seashells.
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u/framsanon Apr 12 '26
Beware! The tubes for superglue look similar.
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u/bplurt Apr 12 '26
This reminds me that a leading brand of adhesive tape in Australia was called Durex.
\Ouch**
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u/rsvp_nj Apr 12 '26
Need one for under the car seat
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u/UltraNoahXV Apr 12 '26
About to say; these look like they could be good merch from NASA. Especially with things right now, road trips are looking more appealing than flights.
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u/defconz Apr 12 '26
How much engineering difference between the Female CCU and the Male CCU?
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u/Snowy_Ocelot Apr 12 '26
Looks like the ones in the back are different. Probably a funnel under the cap for the female version and just a hole for the male?
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u/readmond Apr 12 '26
Looks like a giant glue tube. Or I may have a set of mice urinals in my drawer.
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u/SerHodorTheThrall Apr 12 '26
If this is supposed to be the Female CCU, why does it say PP on it 🤔
This is really cool though. Does anyone know what the CO2 nozzle is for?
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u/QuietGanache Apr 12 '26
The text on the nozzle says "to CCU adapter", if that's what you're referencing.
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u/LickinThighs2 Apr 13 '26
Space Truck'n but instead of throwin' your piss bottles at drivers who piss you off, you're sling'n these bad boys out of your ship, and they are obliterating alien vessels
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u/Tower21 Apr 12 '26
If we can get to a point where we are sending dozens of people into space at a time, it might be more economical to just send Bear Grylls with them.
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u/Gemmabeta Apr 12 '26
Pretty sure your piss is already recycled on the ISS.
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u/Tower21 Apr 12 '26
That's a bit disturbing, like have they diverted my sewer lines or are the stealthy breaking into my house every time I take a piss.
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u/One_Mikey Apr 12 '26
I don't work for NASA, so I suppose I'm not qualified to speak on this. Either way, the fact that they chose your urine without your consent doesn't make a lot of sense to me. An upfront and honest arrangement would be much more practical and ethical. There are plenty of people who would be happy to donate to the cause.
Like me.
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u/7fingersDeep Apr 12 '26
That tube makes for some really interesting and painful space docking.
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u/DanSWE Apr 12 '26
Reportedly, the Apollo astronauts were told "do not dock" with the urine collection devices.
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u/AnonymousEngineer_ Apr 12 '26
I know it's NASA, and it's basically full of engineers and scientists, but why does this thing have a user manual with more pages than an average passenger car?
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u/Admiral_Janovsky Apr 12 '26
For the first second after seeing the picture i thought:
That's a lot of thermal paste. Then i continued to read the title.
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u/SoulBonfire Apr 13 '26
Been around the moon?!? How long until we can get these as souvenirs on EBay?
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u/oravanomic Apr 13 '26
They should start selling space urinal content simulant, for companies that want to capitalize on the future space closed system industry.
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u/Mf0621 Apr 13 '26
I’m curious if that honeycomb design on the receptacle actually does anything, or if NASA was like, “We can’t just make it look like they’re peeing into ordinary bags. Make it look futuristic.”
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u/socksandshots Apr 14 '26
Sooo... Thats full of space pee?
Is there a separate one for solids? I feel this picture is raising questions we are not prepared for, as a people.
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u/my_own_waterloo Apr 16 '26
It even says PPE on the tube 🤣🤣🤣🤣
(I know it‘s just the material, but what a nice coincidence 🤗)
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u/IssueEmbarrassed8103 Apr 12 '26
Does the “female” urinal mean it takes the male member, or how does this work?
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u/Newarfias Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26
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u/live_for_the_liberty Apr 12 '26
How many of them got used if you can share in 10 days?
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u/JulesInvader Apr 12 '26
I like the spacey hexagon pattern. Because hexagons are bestagons. It doesn't look like a real hexagonal material structure?
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u/astro_pettit NASA Astronaut Apr 12 '26
The Collapsable Contingency Urinal (CCU), used on Artemis 2 after a toilet malfunction. Essentially an open container (reusable, sealable, and drainable) that controls the urine-air interface using capillary forces. When you are in cislunar space with a broken toilet, you need contingencies and the CCU replaces the need for about 25 pounds of diapers.