It is not easy to stool in the weightless state of the universe where all objects are floating.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has taken this into account and decided to launch a new space toilet worth 26.9 billion won, which is much more convenient than the existing toilet, to the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA is planning to launch a Cygnus spacecraft carrying cargo for ISS from Wallops, Virginia, USA on the 1st of next month (local time), the space science media space reported on the 28th.
Cygnus, which loads all 3.45 tons of cargo, is also attracting attention after spending 23 million dollars (2.91 billion won) to load a newly created space toilet.
The new space toilet, dubbed the'Universal Waste Management System' (UWMS), is 65% smaller and 40% lighter than what is currently installed on the ISS, yet designed to be used by more astronauts, NASA said.
New additions have been added to the space toilet, including a double-pane titanium pan that allows the astronaut's excrement to flow down, a urine reprocessing unit, and facilities for female astronauts.
NASA aims to develop a way to make toilets that can be used on the Moon and Mars in the long term, and to efficiently recycle astronauts' waste.
"Our future goal is to dry metabolic waste and reuse water," NASA said. "Developing a water circulation system is the key to space survival."
NASA was initially scheduled to launch a Cygnus spacecraft equipped with a space toilet on the 29th of this month, but due to bad weather forecasts, NASA delayed the launch to 9:38pm EST on the 1st of next month.
When urinating in space, a funnel connected to a hose is used, and the hose has suction.
When discharging the stool with the butt fit into the drain pipe-sized hole and the foot fixed to the footrest, the stool is placed in a separate bag, and the bag is sealed and sucked into a collection bin.
(Photo = NASA website capture, Yonhap News)