Sunita Williams speaks out...

Indian origin astronaut Sunita Williams, who holds the record for the longest single space flight by a woman for 195 days, has demonstrated how astronauts use toilets in the zero-gravity International Space Station in a newly released video.

Moreover, the former station commander has been explaining about the 12.5-million- pound hi-tech facilities as part of a fascinating video tour she compiled before returning to earth last November. She added that the six-strong crew even have a choice of toilet paper, soft tissue for the Americans and the harsher, rough variety preferred by Russian cosmonauts.

Waste Collection System offers a degree of privacy ...

According to Sunita, the "Waste Collection System", or WCS, offers a degree of privacy with its own folding door while she explained that No1s and No 2s are colour coded.
In the video, Sunita is seen holding her nose as she point out the No2 loo and is heard saying: "That smells a bit therefore I'm closing it".

US Navy pilot Sunita, who has spent a total of almost 322 days in space after seven missions, further said that the crew are also provided with nappies, gloves and sterile wipes in case things get a bit messy. Although she said the system does occasionally go wrong, she doesn't explain the details of the problem.

Sunita also showed the astronauts’ beds along with phone booth-sized compartments with sleeping bags In fact she demonstrated how the crew could nod off in any position without feeling upside-down or out of touch in any way. While if they need to wake up for a quick splash-down, it seems they just have to remember to leave the landing light on.

(Image source: Sunita Williams image)

(AW:Samrat Biswas)