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Dating to 1970, this silent NASA footage shows zero gravity flight tests of a toilet system for containing urine and fecal matter in space. The point of the test was to apparently demonstrate how an astronaut would sit on the toilet in space (using a strap or belt) and how the seal on the device would work (although, in these particular tests, no actual #1 or #2 occurred). These tests were conducted aboard a reduced gravity aircraft, probably NASA's Convair C-131 Samaritan or possibly a KC-135 aircraft (this type of aircraft appears visible at the top of frame at the start of the film at :16). In the footage, test subjects are in simulated weightless conditions. The primitive, canister-like toilet device shown must have been a proposed prototype, probably made by Republic Aircraft. It does not appear that it ever made it into space. During the Apollo missions, astronauts used a cuff / condom type system for urine collection and a bag that taped to the buttocks for fecal collection. It's unknown why this particular device was not adopted, but most likely it has to do with its size and weight.

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