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Doesn't the ISS blast human excrement out into space? Maybe that explains the bacteria ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

• johnhenry 9y ago
  https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridaineparnell/2015/09/15/pooping-stars-nasa-reveals-what-happens-to-human-waste-aboard-the-iss/#69947bfe2b09 https://www.forbes.com/sites/bridaineparnell/2015/09/15/poop...
• Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
  Actually, they ship it down to Earth during the resupply missions.
  • greggarious 9y ago
    My bad, I may be crossing some wires and thinking of certain trains.
    • johnhenry 9y ago
      I am by no means an expert, but I linked to an article above that indicates that you were right all along. Specifically "... is ejected from the station and burns ..." though there isn't much else to support for this.
  • Spare_account 9y ago
    I'm getting conflicting information from NASA on this. According to the first link (PDF, sorry), waste is disposed of in re-entry craft. But according to the second link, it's ejected to burn up in the atmosphere. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/issrdc_2013-07-17-1600_carrasquillo2013.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/issrdc_2013-0... https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/infographic_yearinspace https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/inf...
    • Sir_Cmpwn 9y ago
      In any case, we know that they use special waste storage containers, and don't expose feces to space directly (presumably until these systems fail during re-entry - far away from the ISS). Take your pick of the several videos on YouTube that describe the ISS's toilet to see the waste containers in question.