Orbiter.ch Space News: Space Toilet and Problems of Intestinal Stick Infection. Part 17.7

samedi 15 mai 2021

Space Toilet and Problems of Intestinal Stick Infection. Part 17.7

Space toilet.

May 15, 2021

Preamble

Here the seventeen (17.7) article of a series of articles by Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich, expert in chronology and calendar systems, as well as space biology and medicine, Parliamentarian of Asgardia (AMP) the first space Nation.

Ph.D. Morozov Sergey Lvovich

Space Toilet and Problems of Intestinal Stick Infection (bowel obstruction)

For the first time, the Americans had a toilet only on shuttles. But he was not reliable. Astronaut Mike Mullein recalled that it was best to completely undress before using the toilet. Urine leaks and flying poop were not uncommon.

But before that, American astronauts generally only had diapers and "manual operations." The threat of infection by E. coli colonies and uncomfortable odors were a problem. If the bacteria enters the abdominal cavity, peritonitis may occur. Once in and multiplying in a woman's vagina, the bacteria can cause or complicate colpitis. The ingress of bacteria into the male prostate gland can be the pathogenesis of acute or chronic bacterial prostatitis, which could be the cause of acute prostatitis in cosmonaut Vasyutin.

To utilize the great need for the Mercury spacecraft, nothing was foreseen - the astronauts, three days before the flight, switched to a special diet that reduces the volume of feces. In the event of a flight delay (and this was the case regularly), the diet was extended.

The Gemini program included two long flights - Gemini V (almost 8 days) and Gemini VII (two weeks). Both flights required remarkable willpower from the astronauts. The hardest part was for Frank Borman and Jim Lowell on Gemini VII.

Image above: Frank Borman retired from NASA in July 1970. The total time of his stay in space was 19 days 21 hours 35 minutes 43 seconds.

A week later, the cabin was filled with the smell of urine and unwashed bodies (there was no change of clothes, no opportunity to wash). The astronauts put up with it as best they could - the first time they went down in a big way only on the tenth day of the flight.

And the last few days have gotten really unpleasant. But at that time it was a big victory - the USA overtook the USSR in flight duration, and two weeks were enough to fly to the moon.

As the commander of the Apollo 8 crew, Frank Bormann (German-American) made the first manned flight around the Moon and was one of 24 people to reach the Earth's satellite. He is the oldest living American in space. On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 entered lunar orbit.

In twenty hours, the crew made ten orbits around the moon before returning to Earth. Earth Rising is a famous photograph taken by crew member Bill Anders of the Earth rising above the lunar horizon as the command module orbits the moon.

Flying on the ships "Mercury", "Gemini" and "Apollo" in the "fragrant" atmosphere of Escherichia coli colonies was not an easy test for American astronauts.

After the death of Gus Grissom, Bormann became Slayton's choice to command the first attempt at landing on the moon. In the fall of 1968, Slayton asked Bormann to command the first landing, but he refused. This was done by astronaut Neil Armstrong in 1969.

To comment on the Apollo 11 Moon Landing Mission in July 1969, Bormann was appointed NASA's Presidential Representative. Richard Nixon at the White House.

He watched the launch from the president's office. Nixon first prepared a long speech to read to astronauts on the moon during a phone call, but Bormann convinced him to speak briefly and impartially.

He also convinced the president not to play the "Star Banner" (US National Anthem), which would have required the astronauts to spend two and a half minutes of their time. He accompanied the President as he flew to the rescue ship on the USS Hornet to meet the Apollo 11 crew on their return. In June 1970, Bormann retired from NASA and the United States Air Force with the rank of colonel.

On the Apollo program, the most unpleasant thing was the lack of a toilet. Transcripts of the astronauts' conversations regularly contained discussions of the question of "whose" poop "("sausage") is flying around the cockpit."

Image above: The Apollo program was based on the Gemini sewage system. Liquid waste was collected in the same slip-on receptacles with containers and dumped overboard. For each astronaut, a supply of 10 replacement urine cuffs was kept.

During that period of history, the priority of space exploration was assigned to the USSR. The Americans were well aware that their rivals had advanced far ahead in space exploration and that it was not so easy to get ahead of them.

To close the distance, NASA needed to make some kind of breakthrough in space exploration. At this time, the lunar program was created. About 40 thousand employees worked on its development for eight years. The lunar program spent about $ 136 billion in 2005 prices. But no real rivalry with the USSR actually happened.

It turned out that the United States flew to the moon without a toilet in a dense atmosphere of aerosol from E. coli, feces and urine solely for their own "pleasure."

Therefore, realizing, finally, the complete senselessness of the situation of such "competition" with themselves, they also decided to give up this political "pleasure" ahead of schedule. In December 1972, they flew to the moon for the last sixth time.

The seventh, eighth and ninth flights to the moon therefore did not take place. Officially, the reason for the cancellation was called "the absence of a new scientific value with huge expenditures of the state budget and taxpayers."

On the remnants of the unfinished Apollo program, NASA conducted an international Soyuz-Apollo flight (https://habr.com/ru/post/401135/) and launched three variants (2, 3, 4) of the Skylab station with a Saturn rocket -1B ". Unused equipment (two Saturn-5 rockets) was given to museums.

Image above: From left to right: Slayton, Stafford, Brand, Leonov, Kubasov.

The program of docking in orbit between the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft was approved on May 24, 1972 by the Agreement between the USSR and the USA on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes. Implemented in the period from July 15 to July 21 (24), 1975.

On July 17, 1975, at 19 hours 12 minutes Moscow time, the Soviet Soyuz and the American Apollo docked in Earth orbit - this was the first joint experimental manned flight in the history of cosmonautics.

On July 19, the ships were undocked (the 64th orbit of the Soyuz), after which, after two orbits, the ships were docked again (the 66th orbit of the Soyuz), after another two orbits the ships finally undocked (the 68th orbit "Union").

Experimental flight "Apollo" - "Soyuz" (abbr. ASTP; other names - program "Soyuz - Apollo", program "Apollo - Soyuz"; Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, ASTP), also known as "handshake in space" - program joint experimental manned flight of the Soviet spacecraft Soyuz-19 and the American spacecraft Apollo.

Flight time:

- Soyuz-19 - 5 days 22 hours 31 minutes;
- Apollo - 9 days 1 hour 28 minutes;
- The total flight time in the docked state is almost two days - 46 hours 36 minutes.

Landing:

- Soyuz 19 - July 21, 1975
- Apollo - July 24, 1975

Image above: Union docking with Apollo on July 17, 1975. The photo (video) is real, possibly taken from a remote satellite. https://habr.com/ru/post/401135/

Why Wernher Von Braun not Provided a Toilet on the APOLLO Space Ships?

All five days of the flight under the ASTP program in the Soyuz-19 spacecraft the toilet worked properly. And by definition, there was no toilet in the Apollo spacecraft.

The entire Apollo program was designed from the very beginning at NASA as short-term, within no more than two weeks (14 days).

Therefore, the astronauts all 9 days were on a starvation "diet" with swollen overflowing intestines and stomach discomfort. They frankly envied the Soviet cosmonauts with their blessing of civilization - the space toilet.

NASA astronauts were shocked when they saw the super toilet on the Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. Twice Hero of the USSR, pilot-cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov shared these memories at the solemn event dedicated to the anniversary of the docking of the Soyuz and Apollo. (https://lenta.ru/news/2020/07/18/pipi/).

This was Wernher von Braun's headache. The engines of the Saturn 5 rocket did not allow the Apollo spacecraft to have a toilet.

The toilet was replaced by a third astronaut. "Bolivar" could not stand the toilet. The longest expedition, Apollo 17, lasted more than 12 days: 301 hours 51 minutes 59 seconds.

It was the world record for flying into space without a toilet. A "burden" like a toilet would have prevented the Americans from landing on the moon. A choice had to be made: either a toilet and two astronauts in the cockpit, or a third astronaut, but no toilet? The latter option was chosen as more reliable in terms of ensuring a successful landing on the moon in a lander with two astronauts, rather than one.

It was physically impossible to fly in space on Apollo without a toilet for more than 13-14 days due to problems with limited nutrition and emptying of the intestines of the astronauts. This was the heavy price the Americans paid for the conquest of the moon.

Alan Shepard, the first US astronaut, had a similar problem with the lack of a toilet. The Mercury program was also developed as an extremely short-term one.

In a flight suit for 15 minutes, no one thought about the sanitary and hygienic needs of the astronaut: there was no urine bag. Shepard emptied his bladder into a spacesuit with the risk of a short circuit (all power had been cut off beforehand), calling himself a "wet back."

The Americans believe that if NASA had not listened to the cautious von Braun, Shepard would have flown on March 24, 1961, and thus would have become the first person in space instead of Gagarin.

Image above: May 5, 1961. 09:34:13. The launch of the Redstone-3 Booster (created by the German Wernher von Braun), which was watched live by 45 to 70 million people. Classes were stopped in schools, institutions stopped working, and traffic stopped. In his autobiography, he wrote that he said to himself only "Don’t fuck up, Shepard"

On May 5, 1961, the Redstone 3 launch vehicle launched the Mercury-Redstone-3 (Freedom 7) capsule spacecraft into the ballistic trajectory of a suborbital flight.

Image above: Scheme of a suborbital flight of astronaut A. Shepard on May 5, 1961

The capsule reached an altitude of approximately 186.5 km and landed in the waters of the US Atlantic Missile Range 486 km from the launch point. The flight lasted 15 minutes 28 seconds.

Image above: 05:15. Alan Bartlet Shepard took a seat in the capsule ship "Mercury-Redstone-3" ("Freedom 7") 2 hours before the start.

NASA did not provide the spacecraft "Mercury-Redstone-3" with the possibility of satisfying natural human needs by an astronaut - it basically did not have a toilet and hygiene means for disposing of human waste. a long unplanned wait for the start and make the flight itself, being in a pool of your own urine.

Image above: Half an hour after landing, Shepard was invited to the phone. President Kennedy called, who watched the entire landing process on TV and personally congratulated Alan on the 1st space flight.

At the age of 47, by then the oldest NASA astronaut, Alan Shepard completed his second space flight as the commander of Apollo 14, which became the third successful American mission to the moon (January 31 - February 9, 1971). The astronaut died on July 21, 1998 at the age of 75 from leukemia in a hospital in Monterey.

Alan Shepard on the lunar surface, 1971

Only at the Skylab 1 station (which was launched into low-Earth orbit by the Saturn 5 rocket) did NASA's excreta disposal system appear as a "vacuum cleaner" fan. True, instead of the funnel of the urine bag, the same cuffs were used as on the Apollo, but at least the ventilator reliably created a vacuum for suction of urine. In the business of collecting solid waste, a toilet with removable bags has appeared.

Space Toilet - The Physiological Nucleus (Central Part) of Any Homeostatic ARK (GC) - Stationary and Mobile, - As Well As Any Long-Term Space Ship

Soviet spacecraft Vostok were designed from the very beginning for multi-day (long-term) flights, so the space toilet issues were resolved immediately (in advance), and even Gagarin went on a 108-minute flight with a completely complete toilet, which would have lasted 10 days. The design made it possible to cope with large and small needs and was relatively simple and versatile for men and women at the same time.

The design of the toilet-"vacuum cleaner" turned out to be so successful that it has not undergone fundamental changes for more than half a century. On modern "Soyuz" there is almost the same toilet, differing only in the shape of the compartment for collecting feces.

Image above: There are two Russian-made toilets on the ISS today: on the left is a toilet in the Zvezda module, on the right - in the Destiny module (ISS).

Today, no one complains about the work of the toilets on the ISS, although they sometimes fail, creating infectious problems with E. coli for the entire crew.

Image above: International Space Station, abbr. The ISS (International Space Station, abbreviated ISS) is a manned orbital station with a mass of 417.3 tons. Crew - up to 7 people. The pinnacle of achievements in manned astronautics in a state of zero gravity (microgravity).

According to Roscosmos, the ISS will expire in 2024. Now Roscosmos is negotiating with its international partners in the station to extend its life until 2030.

Editor's article supplement:

The ISS toilets were not always fun, there were breakdowns (often the clogged toilets), plumbing problems etc. In the equipment and supplies sent during the 14th mission of the Cygnus space freighter (NG-14), new toilet appeared in the on-board inventory.

Related article:

Cygnus Carries Toilet, Cancer Research, VR Camera to Space Station on 14th Mission
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/09/cygnus-carries-toilet-cancer-research.html

And to conclude in the theme of "pee & poo", during their spacewalk, there are no toilets in space, astronauts and cosmonauts wear diapers in their spacesuits.

Astronaut & Cosmonaut diaper

The First Hidden de Facto Epidemic of a Fungus Unknown to Science at the Mir Station and Forced Flooding of the Station

On February 19, 1986, the first module of the Mir station was launched in the USSR, which became the prototype of the International Space Station and the first multi-modular station in orbit with a constant human presence. The station was inhabited for 4594 days.

More than 23,000 experiments were carried out at the station. The program was held within the framework of the international cooperation Mir-Shuttle. The station was visited by 104 cosmonauts from 12 countries.

However, since 1997, the time spent on station maintenance and fixing technical problems was 2.5 times the time spent on scientific experiments. The process of destruction of devices after a series of technical breakdowns was rapidly gaining momentum.

The problems started in 1993. First, the switching device broke down.

When the device was brought to the ground, it was opened, and inside was discovered a greenish mold unknown to science, lying in a thick and extensive, dense bloom.

Then on the space station other devices, in particular, a fire warning sensor and a smoke alarm, went out of order.

Due to such serious malfunctions, it was dangerous to be inside the World, since the devices could catch fire at any moment. One such fire, when using oxygen bombs, was accidentally extinguished by cosmonaut Polyakov personally.

In 1993, cosmonaut Serebrov sent a worm, found by him in a tank with drinking water, 1.5 m, to Earth for study from the Mir station, about which, unfortunately, nothing else was reported later.

Opening another spacesuit for spacewalk, he noticed a strange green dust in it, which literally splashed out on the astronaut. Serebrov commented on it this way: "Imagine, you open the spacesuit from the back (it was there that the" door "was located), and a strange greenish smoke falls out of it."

By the way, if this happened on earth, the dust would quickly fall to the floor, since gravity acts on it.

In outer space, there is no gravity on board the station, so the smallest dust particles are elusive there. When Serebrov looked inside the suit, he saw a layer of green mold. It was easy to guess that it was she who was the source of the dust.

They tried to collect mold and dust in a dust collector. The remaining traces inside the spacesuit were cleaned by the entire crew using available means.

The station was thoroughly disinfected and from January 8, 1994 to March 22, 1995, the longest flight in the history of astronautics was carried out on it - 437 days 17 hours 58 minutes by cosmonaut-doctor Polyakov.

The record-breaking cosmonaut Polyakov was in the 15th, 16th and 17th main expeditions to the Mir station. He had the task of simulating a flyby of Mars in 500 days. But for some reason he did not manage to bring the record to exactly 500 days. Polyakov was evacuated from the station for some reason.

The epidemiological situation at the station has become very bad. They failed to overcome the invasion of mold, which aggressively and dangerously damaged the insulation on the wires. Nothing helped. (https://fishki.net/1889954-istorija-kosmonavta-aleksandra-serebrova-neizvestnaja-nauke-inoplanetnaja-zaraza-na-kosmostancii-mir.html)

Image above: Colonies of mold unknown to science at the MIR station (1993-1994).

Cosmonaut Serebrov, Alexander Alexandrovich, became seriously ill and terminally ill and resigned on May 10, 1995; he was the first human to become infected with space mold at the MIR station. They could not cure him that way. Until now, no one knows his real diagnosis.

Cosmonaut Serebrov died suddenly on November 12, 2013, at the age of 70. He was buried on November 15, 2013 at the Ostankino cemetery. Science has lost the fight against the first real space epidemic.

The station, on the other hand, was in a very poor condition - worn-out systems broke down every now and then, there were fires, ventilation failed, navigation junked, etc.

The Spektr module was completely out of order after the Progress M-34 cargo ship crashed into it on June 25, 1997.

"Spectrum" had the largest area of solar panels and provided up to 40% of the station's energy, so that its loss was virtually irreplaceable. Therefore, in recent years, even scientific work on Mir has hardly been carried out.

On June 16, 2000, the last expedition (Sergei Zalyotin and Alexander Kaleri) returned from Mir to Soyuz-TM-30, and on November 16, Yuri Koptev, at that time the general director of Roscosmos, suggested flooding the station.

After a series of discussions, mostly of a political nature, his proposal was accepted as a guide to action. (https://vc.ru/future/70939-kratkaya-istoriya-sovetskih-kosmicheskih-stanciy-ot-salyuta-1-do-mira)

On March 21, 2001, the station was de-orbited and on March 23, 2001 (15 years and 4 days after the start of operation) at 09.01 there was a planned flooding of the MIR station, affected by an epidemic unknown to science of mold (fungus), in the South Pacific Ocean, closed from navigation "cemetery of spaceships", flooding coordinates: 40 ° 0'S, 160 ° 0'Wc.

It was a total disinfection of the MIR station by cosmic fire - almost all of it burned out while passing through the dense layers of the atmosphere along with unidentified mold.

This first epidemic in space is the first call for civilization at the beginning of the colonization of the Universe. Infection in space in a confined space is more dangerous than on Earth.

In space, special, heightened precautions are needed. This primarily concerns the so-called "space" tourism.

Orbital station "Mir" before sinking in 2001

Editor's article supplement:

To avoid the same problem in the International Space Station (ISS), cleanings and samples of microbes and bacteria and molds are taken regularly.

Astronauts Leave “Microbial Fingerprint” on Space Station
https://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2020/05/astronauts-leave-microbial-fingerprint.html

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