December 22, 2011
Please Don’t Squeeze the Astronaut
Taking human anatomy into account, the toilet facilities on space station have an architecture that expertly aligns the purpose to the environment (such trifles as a toilet seat are not needed when you are weightless). The Soyuz spacecraft is a different matter. The toilet on Soyuz is simple, and will get the job done with minimum mess. But relaxing it is not. In the cramped quarters your crewmates politely keep their backs turned, with plugged noses. Fortunately, we only live in the Soyuz for two days before we rendezvous and dock with the space station. After that we can live, and relieve ourselves, in semi-private style.
The Soyuz toilet: Simple, and it works.
The Olympian measure of endurance for a Soyuz crewmember is to hold your bowel for the two-day passage. This is a competition with no place for silver or bronze. Shortly after the hatch opening and the first handshake/hug with our friends already on the station, the newly arriving crew makes a hasty retreat to the toilet. Exercising proper space etiquette, it is best not to give the newly arrived too strong a hug.
To help ease our difficulty, we are offered a pre-launch enema. Administered by our flight surgeons, this allows us to launch with a clear mind and a clean colon.
Don, good to see you back in space! Hard to imagine what it’s like posting a blog from within the Soyuz capsule. Wishing you a safe arrival tomorrow, and a Merry Christmas as well. Jerry Gaffke, SUHS ’73
Comment by Jerry Gaffke — December 22, 2011 @ 1:50 pm
Editor’s note: Don pre-wrote a couple of posts, including this one, so he wasn’t blogging from the Soyuz. He’ll pick up posting again once he’s settled in orbit. The Soyuz TMA-03M docked to the station on Friday morning.
Comment by The Editors — December 23, 2011 @ 11:14 am
Hello Don; All the best this Christmas season to you and your other crew members. Please provide the armature band frequency used to communicate with armature hams on earth.
Will pass this on to a friend who lives just outside RAF Mildenhall UK.
Cheers,
Bob S
USAF Retired
Comment by Bob S — December 23, 2011 @ 4:06 pm
Wishing you safe travels as well as much harmony and laughter in tight quarters.
I fell in love with Space at an early age, was glued to the TV for all of the lunar trips (part of the time in Germany) and have rooted and cheered all of you onward, from afar.
LOVE that it was the picture of Earth from space that truly communicated without words that we are indeed one.
May your experiences be rich and fulfilling, and may you be Abundantly and Infinitely Blessed in a g’zillion lil ways.
Thanks for blogging!
Comment by Lu Wings — December 23, 2011 @ 4:08 pm
Magnificent site. A lot of helpful info here. I am sending it to several friends ans also sharing in delicious. And obviously, thanks on your sweat!
Comment by Chang Handin — January 17, 2012 @ 3:51 pm