Traveling to space is much more common today than in the past, though it is still quite a technological achievement. Back in 1961, when humanity was working on sending the first humans to space, they were using the most advanced technology available at the time. As with any major undertaking like this, however, not every issue was solved before taking action.

The world was watching as the United States and the Soviet Union worked to become the first country to put a man into space. On April 12th, the Soviets won that initial race when they sent Yuri Gagarin into space. The US was not far behind when astronaut Alan Shepard went up on May 5th.

Not surprisingly, people were interested in every aspect of going to space, and before anyone went up, people were sending questions to NASA to try to learn how things worked. On February 1st, 1961, Brenda Kemmerer sent in a letter where she asked how the astronauts would go to the bathroom if they made it up into space.

The answer was given by Dr. Freeman H Quimby, who worked at the Office of Life Science Programs at NASA. This answer was later reported in a paper entitled, “Forgotten Hardware: How to Urinate in a Spacesuit,” Which was published by Hunter Hollins from the National Air and Space Museum.

For the first space flight by NASA, the answer to Kemmerer’s question was straightforward:

“The first space man is not expected to have ‘to go’.”

This is because Alan Shepard’s entire flight was only expected to last a few hours, including prep time and the time it takes to get out of the shuttle. The flight itself only lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds.

As you might guess, however, things did not go entirely as planned. Shepard got into his spacesuit sometime around 3 AM to get ready for his flight, and was put into the space capsule at 5:20. The launch was set to occur at 7:25 AM, but there were delays. And then more delays. The delays added another four hours to his time in the suit, adding up to more than seven hours total since he had last had the chance to use the bathroom.

So, when nature called, Shepard contacted ground control to ask what he should do. The answer was simple: they turned off several medical sensors in the suit and told him to just relieve himself into the suit itself. The waste would pool up near his lower back and be absorbed by the garments he was wearing for the flight.

It is somewhat gross, but it didn’t cause any problems, and eventually, Shepard was able to become the first astronaut to launch into space. If asked, we’re quite sure he would say going in his space suit was a small price to pay for what he was able to accomplish. When the next manned mission to space was slated, astronaut Gus Grissom had a suit that was equipped with a device designed to collect waste so he wouldn’t have to suffer the same indignity.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?