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MaryRobinette's profile
Mary Robinette Kowal@🏡
Mary Robinette Kowal@🏡
Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡
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@MaryRobinette

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Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡Verified account

@MaryRobinette

'Mary Robinette' like 'Mary Anne.' Nebula & Hugo-awarded author, puppeteer, & narrator (she/her) http://patreon.com/maryrobinette 

Nashville, TN
maryrobinettekowal.com
Joined January 2008

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    Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

    Let's talk about peeing in space. Several people, in response to my NY Times essay, have said that women couldn't go into space because we lacked the technology for them to pee in space.

    11:00 AM - 19 Jul 2019
    • 29,034 Retweets
    • 73,067 Likes
    • Gerrit Kaiser Kenny David Alpert 💉💉 Chris Graham Olga Heismann J3551C4 R4U3R JuanM04 Nad/Ara Law-abidingNetizen
    1,636 replies 29,034 retweets 73,067 likes
      1. New conversation
      2. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        When the Mercury program was proposed, doctors were worried that people would not be able to urinate or even swallow without the aid of gravity. And yet, they still made plans to send a man into space.

        24 replies 349 retweets 6,969 likes
        Show this thread
      3. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        When Alan Shepherd became the first American man to go into space, it was scheduled to be a fifteen-minute mission. Up. Hello space! Back down. They made no plans for peeing.

        20 replies 261 retweets 6,856 likes
        Show this thread
      4. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Launchpad delays meant that Shepherd hit a point where he needed to go. Badly. He asked Mission Control for permission to go in his suit. After consultation with flight surgeons & suit technicians, they gave him permission to do so. So he wet himself & still went into space.

        25 replies 382 retweets 8,043 likes
        Show this thread
      5. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Later, they solved this problem by developing a sheath, that looked much like a condom. It worked great in testing, but when the actual astronauts used it, the sheath kept blowing off and leaving them with pee in their suits. Was this about extended time in the spacesuit?

        13 replies 306 retweets 6,211 likes
        Show this thread
      6. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        The sheaths came in small, medium, and large. It turns out, the men were all saying that they needed a Large sheath. They did not. Subsequently, the astronauts called the sheaths were called "Extra-large," "Immense," and "Unbelievable."

        126 replies 1,338 retweets 17,576 likes
        Show this thread
      7. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        They had to tape a bag to their ass to poop. That worked well for Gemini and Mercury. And by well, I mean there was still urine in the capsule and it stank of feces. Apollo needed a different solution.

        15 replies 257 retweets 6,303 likes
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      8. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Alas, they still had to poop into a bag, but for peeing, they could slip on a condom attached to a valve, turn the valve and have their urine sucked into the vacuum of space. If you timed it right.

        13 replies 216 retweets 5,830 likes
        Show this thread
      9. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Open the valve a fraction too late, and urine escaped to float around the cabin. Open it too early and the vacuum of space reached through the valve to grab your manhood. Apparently, the venting of pee into space is very pretty. It catches the sunlight and sparkles.

        61 replies 599 retweets 10,037 likes
        Show this thread
      10. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        For the spacewalks, the Apollo astronauts were back to condoms that collected the pee in a bag in the suit. Buzz Aldrin was the second man on the moon, but the first to pee there.

        46 replies 975 retweets 10,621 likes
        Show this thread
      11. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        During Apollo13, everyone who has seen the movie knows that Fred Haise got sick. Do you know why, though? After the accident, they couldn't use the regular vent, because it needed to be heated to keep the pee from freezing.

        7 replies 210 retweets 5,108 likes
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      12. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        The alternate system caused droplets to float around the ship. Mission Control told them to stop dumping pee. It wasn't meant to be a permanent ban, but the crew didn't understand that. So they were stashing pee in every bag or container possible.

        3 replies 193 retweets 5,098 likes
        Show this thread
      13. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        The fastest option was to store it in the collection bags they wore in their suits. Haise kept his on for hours and hours, basically bathing in pee. He got a UTI and then a kidney infection.

        13 replies 221 retweets 5,946 likes
        Show this thread
      14. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Finally, a decade later, NASA decides to send women into space. NOW they have a reason to come up with how to handle peeing in space if you don't have a penis. To launch and for a spacewalk, they developed the MAG Maximum Absorbency Garment. It's a diaper.

        38 replies 459 retweets 8,245 likes
        Show this thread
      15. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        The men switched over to using those because it was more comfortable and less prone to leave pee floating around the cabin than the condom sheath. They also developed a zero-G toilet so that astronauts no longer had to tape a bag to their ass.

        15 replies 271 retweets 6,559 likes
        Show this thread
      16. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Peeing or pooping in space is now a lengthy process, involving a fan, a targeting system, and a fair amount of prayer. Fun pooping in space fact: Without gravity, the poop doesn't break off as it exits your body. You have to reach back and help with special gloves.

        112 replies 1,103 retweets 9,925 likes
        Show this thread
      17. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Peeing is a little more straightforward. It's basically a funnel, a tube, a bag, and a fan for suction. Sometimes though, the toilet breaks down. At that point, they return to using "relief bags" taped to their ass and "manual urine containment."

        12 replies 205 retweets 5,253 likes
        Show this thread
      18. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        During a malfunction, it is also possible for a giant floating globe of pee to exit the toilet. Fun fact: Due to chemicals, it is bright purple and acidic. Fun fact: Poop regularly escapes, which is why you never eat a milk dud found floating in the ISS.

        57 replies 557 retweets 9,220 likes
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      19. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        All of which is to say that the reason women didn't go into space had nothing to do with lacking the technology to pee. We didn't have the technology for men to pee in space when they started either. And some days, the best solution is still a diaper or a bag taped to the ass

        72 replies 885 retweets 12,120 likes
        Show this thread
      20. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Addendum with some FAQs: What about Farting in space? - It does not propel you. Astronauts have tried. What about belching? - Gravity keeps food at the bottom of the stomach. Burps in space tend to be accompanied by solid matter

        49 replies 584 retweets 8,029 likes
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      21. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        What about periods in space? - According to women who have been there, "It's just like a period on Earth." It turns out menstrual blood moves via a wicking action. Gravity can speed that up, but is unnecessary. Also, tampons exist.

        23 replies 449 retweets 8,697 likes
        Show this thread
      22. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Fun fact: When Sally Ride was preparing to go into space, NASA engineers asked her if 100 tampons would be the right number for a week. She said, "No. That would not be the right number." They cut it back to 50...

        122 replies 1,441 retweets 14,838 likes
        Show this thread
      23. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Fun fact: Gravity creates most of the sense of urgency for peeing, so in microgravity, astronauts can't always tell when they need to go. It's such a complicated process that they pee on a schedule.

        25 replies 672 retweets 8,978 likes
        Show this thread
      24. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Fun fact: When Yuri Gargarin was on his way to the launch pad, he realized the suit-up had taken so long that he needed to pee. He got out of the truck and peed on the tire. Every astronaut to launch from Baikonur since has done the same. Women squat or carry a vial of pee.

        44 replies 720 retweets 9,345 likes
        Show this thread
      25. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        Self-promotion Disguised as a Fun Fact: In my novel #TheFatedSky, I have an ENTIRE CHAPTER about a zero-g toilet repair complete with spinning globe of urine. Alas, I had not yet learned that it should be bright purple so it is merely amber.https://books2read.com/b/boYxkA?edit=maybe-later&store=null …

        65 replies 336 retweets 6,673 likes
        Show this thread
      26. Mary Robinette Kowal@ 🏡‏Verified account @MaryRobinette 19 Jul 2019

        FAQ: Erections in space? Officially, it's never happened. However, according to Mike Mullane in his book, Riding Rockets, he woke most mornings on the shuttle with his "wooden puppet friend" "I had an erection so intense it was painful. I could have drilled through kryptonite."

        265 replies 574 retweets 8,096 likes
        Show this thread
      27. End of conversation

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