A space toilet, or zero gravity toilet, is a toilet that can be used in a weightless environment. In the absence of weight the collection and retention of liquid and solid waste is directed by use of air flow. Since the air used to direct the waste is returned to the cabin, it is filtered beforehand to control odor and cleanse bacteria. In older systems, waste water is vented into space and any solids are compressed and stored for removal upon landing. More modern systems expose solid waste to vacuum to kill bacteria, which prevents odor problems and kills pathogens.

Basic parts

There are 4 basic parts in a space toilet, the liquid waste vacuum tube, the vacuum chamber, the waste storage drawers, and the solid waste collection bags. The liquid waste vacuum tube is a 2 to long rubber or plastic hose that is attached to under the vacuum chamber. It is connected to a fan that provides suction. On the end is a detachable urine receptacle. There are 2 different kinds; for male and female astronauts. The male kind is a plastic funnel 2 to 3 inches in width and about 4 inches deep. A male astronaut would urinate directly into the funnel. He would have to keep 2 to 3 inches away to not get sucked into the funnel. The female version is a funnel that is oval in shape and is 2 inches by 4 inches wide at the rim. Near the rim of the funnel are small holes or slits for air to pass through so an astronaut can place the funnel on her body without getting sucked in. The vacuum chamber is a cylinder about deep and 6 inches wide. On the rim of it are clips where you attach waste collection bags. At the back is a fan that provides suction. The waste storage drawers are where they store the waste. Urine is pumped into one of these drawers. They freeze a sample of urine and solid waste and send it to Earth for testing. The solid waste collection bag is a detachable bag that is made of a special fabric that lets gas but not liquid or solid through. This allows the fan at the back of the vacuum chamber to pull the waste into the bag. When the astronaut is done using it he/she twists their bag and places it in a waste storage drawer.

Current designs

Space Shuttle Waste Collection System

The toilet used on the Space Shuttle is called the Waste Collection System (WCS). In addition to air flow, it also uses rotating fans to distribute solid waste for in-flight storage. Solid waste is distributed in a cylindrical container which is then exposed to vacuum to dry the waste. Liquid waste is vented to space. During STS-46, one of the fans malfunctioned, and crew member Claude Nicollier was required to perform in-flight maintenance (IFM). An earlier, complete failure, on the eight-day STS-3 test flight, forced its two-man crew (Jack Lousma and Gordon Fullerton) to use a plastic bag for waste elimination and disposal.

International Space Station

There are two toilets on the International Space Station, located in the Zvezda and ''Tranquility'' modules. They use a fan-driven suction system similar to the Space Shuttle WCS. Liquid waste is collected in 20 litre containers. Solid waste is collected in individual micro-perforated bags which are stored in an aluminum container. Full containers are transferred to Progress for disposal. An additional Waste and Hygiene Compartment is part of the Tranquility module launched in 2010. In 2007, NASA purchased a Russian-made toilet similar to the one already aboard ISS rather than develop one internally.

On May 21, 2008, the gas liquid separator pump failed on the 7-year-old toilet in Zvezda, although the solid waste portion is still functioning. The crew attempted to replace various parts, but was unable to repair the malfunctioning part. In the interim, they used a manual mode for urine collection. The crew has other options: use the toilet on the Soyuz transport module (which only has capacity for a few days of use) or to use urine collection bags as needed. A replacement pump was sent from Russia in a diplomatic pouch so that Space Shuttle Discovery could take it to the station as part of mission STS-124 on June 2.

Other spacecraft

The Soviet/Russian Space Station Mir's toilet also used a system similar to the WCS.

While the Soyuz spacecraft had an onboard toilet facility since its introduction in 1967 (due to the additional space in the Orbital Module), all Gemini and Apollo spacecraft required astronauts to urinate in a so-called "relief tube," in which the contents were dumped into space (an example would be the urine dump scene in the movie ''Apollo 13''), while fecal matter were collected in specially-designed bags. The Skylab space station, used by NASA between May, 1973 and March, 1974, had an onboard WCS facility which served as a prototype for the Shuttle's WCS, but also featured an onboard shower facility. The Skylab toilet, which was designed and built by the Fairchild Republic Corp. on Long Island, was primarily a medical system to collect and return to earth samples of urine, feces and vomit so that calcium balance in astronauts could be studied.

Even with the facilities, astronauts and cosmonauts for both launch systems employ pre-launch bowel clearing and low-residue diets to minimize the need for defecation. The Soyuz toilet has been used on a return mission from Mir.

NPP Zvezda is a Russian developer of space equipment, which includes zero gravity toilets. The unit that failed in 2008 aboard the ISS was of this type.

See also

Holding tank

Head (watercraft)

References

External links

NASA Video shows how to train for and use the Space Shuttle toilet

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/issedukit/en/html/t030405r1.html

http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMHOB9ATME_business_2.html

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/news/2001/News-StationPlumbing.asp

http://edspace.nasa.gov/livespace/gottago.html

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s348188.htm

http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/hometech/spacetoilet.html

http://space.about.com/cs/spaceshuttles/a/bathroominspace.htm

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn1093

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/13/nasas_squeamish_spac.html

http://www.hightechscience.org/zero_gravity_toilet.htm

http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/2004/040825.Volenec.mars.html

http://www.planet4589.org/jcm/trips/06/moscow/mir.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6640035.stm

NASA buys $19 million Russian toilet system for international space station

Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield describes ISS space toilet usage

"Getting a Handle on Space Toilets", ''Scientific American'', May 30, 2008

"Astronauts Swab the Deck"

Category:Toilets Category:Human spaceflight

ar:مرحاض فضائي it:Toilette spaziale he:בית שימוש בחלל sv:Rymdtoalett

Coordinates	38°37′38″N90°11′52″N
name	Richard Garriott
nationality	British / American
birth date	July 04, 1961
birth place	Cambridge, England, UK
occupation	Game designer
known for	Video game development, Space tourism

Richard Allen Garriott (born July 4, 1961) is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur. He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in ''Ultima'' and General British in ''Tabula Rasa''. A figure in the video game industry, Garriott was originally a game designer and programmer and now engages in various aspects of computer game development and business.

On October 12, 2008, Garriott launched aboard Soyuz TMA-13 to the International Space Station as a self-funded tourist, returning 12 days later aboard Soyuz TMA-12.

Biography

Early life

Garriott was born in Cambridge, England, and raised in Nassau Bay, Texas, United States. He is the son of scientist Owen K. Garriott, who became an astronaut and flew with Skylab 3 and Space Shuttle mission STS-9. At Clear Creek High School, he convinced the school to let him have a self-directed courses in programming in which he created fantasy computer games on the schools teletype machines. In the summer of 1977, Richard's parents sent him to the University of Oklahoma for a seven-week computer camp. Shortly after he arrived, some of the other boys attending the camp introduced themselves. When Garriott replied to their greeting of "Hi" with "Hello" they decided he sounded like he was from Britain, and gave him the nickname "British". Garriott uses the name to this day for his various gaming characters, including Ultima character Lord British and Tabula Rasa character General British, despite the fact that Garriott's parents moved to Texas when he was a baby and — despite his nickname and birthplace — his accent is American rather than British.

Programming career

In the summer of 1979 he went to work at a ComputerLand store where he had his first encounter with Apply computers. He created Akalabeth for fun, but the owner of the store convinced him it might sell. He spent $200 getting a manual and a cover sheet drawn by his mom printed out, and putting that in Zip-lock bags to sell around the store. Although he sold less than a dozen copies at the store, one of them made it to California Pacific, which signed a deal with him. He sold over 30,000 copies, he receiving $5 for each game sold. In the fall, he entered the University of Texas at Austin, joined the school's fencing team and later joined the Society for Creative Anachronism.

In the early 1980s, Garriott developed the ''Ultima'' computer game series (sequels after the first were numbered, such as ''Ultima II'', ''Ultima III'' and so on). Originally programmed for the Apple II, the first was published by California Pacific Computers, and sold in Ziploc plastic bags to interested parties. The second part was published by Sierra On-Line, they the only company that agreed to publish it in a box. By the time he developed his third installment, the games had such a large following that Garriott (along with his brother, Robert, and father and others) established Origin Systems, their own video game publisher, to handle the publishing and distribution of his title, now available on several platforms.

Garriott sold Origin to Electronic Arts in September 1992. In 1997, he coined the term Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, MMORPG, giving a new identity to the nascent genre previously known as graphical MUDs. In 1999 and 2000, EA canceled all of Origin's new development projects, including ''Privateer Online'', and ''Harry Potter Online''. In the midst of these events, Garriott resigned from the company and returned to the industry by forming Destination Games in April 2000 with his brother and Starr Long (the producer of ''Ultima Online''). Once Garriott's non-compete agreement with EA expired a year later, Destination partnered with NCsoft where he acted as a producer and designer of MMORPGs. After that, he became the CEO of NCsoft Austin, also known as NC Interactive.

''Tabula Rasa'' failed to be a commercial success despite its seven-year development period. In an open letter on the ''Tabula Rasa'' Web site that was posted on November 11, 2008, Garriott announced his plans to leave NCsoft to pursue new interests sparked by his spaceflight experiences. Later, however, Garriott claimed that the letter was forged as a means of forcing him out of his position and that he had had no intention of leaving. On November 24th, NCsoft announced that it planned to end the live service of ''Tabula Rasa''. The servers shut down on February 28, 2009, after a period of free play from January 10 onward for existing account holders.

In July 2010, an Austin District Court awarded Garriott USD$28 million in his lawsuit against NCsoft, finding that the company did not appropriately handle his departure in 2008.

Spaceflight

name	Richard Garriott
type	Space Adventures Tourist
nationality	British / American
birth date	July 04, 1961
birth place	Cambridge, England, UK
occupation	Game designer
time	11d 20h 35m
mission	Soyuz TMA-13/TMA-12
insignia

The income from the success of Garriott's video game career allowed him to pursue his interest in spaceflight, and the sale of Origin Systems allowed him to invest in Space Adventures and purchase the ticket to become the first private citizen to fly into space. However, Garriott lost all of his wealth in 2001 after the dot-com bubble burst, and he was forced to sell his seat to Dennis Tito.

On September 28, 2007, Space Adventures announced that Garriott would fly to the International Space Station in October 2008 as the sixth space tourist, reportedly paying $30 million USD. On October 12, 2008, Garriott became the second second-generation space traveler (after Sergei Volkov) and the first offspring of an American astronaut to go into space, and the second person to wear the British Union flag in space. The Soyuz docked with the station on October 14.

During his spaceflight, Garriott took part in several education outreach efforts. He is an Amateur Radio Operator (callsign W5KWQ), and during his stay on the International Space Station (ISS), communicated with students and other Amateur Radio operators using Amateur Radio. Garriott also transmitted photographs using the ARISS SSTV amateur radio system. Garriott also placed a geocache while aboard the ISS.

Garriott also worked with the Windows on Earth project, which provides an interactive, virtual view of Earth as seen from the ISS. Garriott used Windows on Earth software to assist in the selection of locations on Earth to photograph, and the public were able to use the same online tool to track the ISS and see the view Richard was experiencing out an ISS window. Richard's photographs, along with images taken by his astronaut father Owen Garriott in 1973, will be available to the public through Windows on Earth, adding a personal element to studies of Earth and how Earth has changed over time.

Tracy Hickman wrote a screenplay for Garriott, for the first science-fiction film shot in space, ''Apogee of Fear''.

On October 24, Russian cosmonauts of ISS Expedition 17, Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, along with space tourist Richard Garriott, aboard Soyuz TMA-12 capsule, landed safely (ideal) at 9:37 a.m. (0336GMT, 07:36 Moscow time), 55 miles north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. They were lifted to the Kazakhstan Baikonur space center by helicopter, and then flew to Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City), Moscow Region.

On June 3, 2009, the ''New York Daily News'' announced that Garriott would officiate at the first wedding to be held in zero gravity. The wedding took place in a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, G-Force One, operated by Zero Gravity Corp, or ZERO-G, a company offering weightless flight experiences, of which he is the co-founder.

Other accomplishments and interests

Garriott bought the Luna 21 lander and the Lunokhod 2 rover (both currently on lunar surface) from the Lavochkin Association for $68,500 in December 1993 at a Sotheby's auction in New York (although the catalog incorrectly lists lot 68A as Luna 17/Lunokhod 1).

Garriott acted as corner man for professional boxer and friend Jesús Chávez in his first title defense against Erik Morales in 2004.

He is also an avid magician and magic collector, and appeared on the cover of the January 2008 issue of ''MUM'', the magazine of the Society of American Magicians.

Garriott built a haunted house/museum at his residence called Britannia Manor in Austin, Texas. He also promotes private space flight as vice-chairman of the board of directors for Space Adventures and as a trustee of the X-Prize.

Awards

Garriott became the ninth inductee into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2006.

Video games

{|border="1" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" ! Game Name !! First Released !! System Name(s) !! Garriott's Role(s) |- | ''Akalabeth: World of Doom'' || 1980 || Apple II & DOS || Game Designer & Programmer |- | ''Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness'' || 1980 || Apple II, Atari 8 bit systems, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns & MSX || Original Conceptor, Programmer & Graphic Artist |- | ''Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress'' || 1982 || Apple II, Atari 8 bit systems, Commodore 64, DOS & FM Towns || Game Designer |- | ''Ultima III: Exodus'' || 1983 || Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8 bit systems, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns, Mac OS & NES || Project Director |- | ''Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar'' || 1985 || Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8 bit systems, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns, MSX, NES, Sega Master System || Project Director |- | ''Autoduel'' || 1985 || Apple II, Amiga, Atari 8 bit systems, Atari ST, Commodore 64 & DOS || Programmer & Designer |- | ''Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny'' || 1988 || Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, FM Towns & NES || Designer, Writer & Programmer |- | ''Omega'' || 1989 || Apple II, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 & DOS || Designer |- | ''Ultima VI: The False Prophet'' || 1990 || DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, SNES || Designer, Producer, Sound Effect Worker, Writer & Voice Actor |- | ''Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire'' || 1990 || DOS & SNES || Executive Producer |- | ''Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams'' || 1991 || DOS || Creative Director |- | ''Ultima: Runes of Virtue'' || 1991 || Game Boy || Creative Director |- | ''Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'' || 1992 || DOS, FM Towns & PlayStation || Director & Voice Actor |- | ''Ultima VII: The Black Gate'' || 1992 || DOS & SNES || Director & Producer |- | ''Ultima VII: The Forge of Virtue'' || 1993 || DOS || Creative Assistance & Producer |- | ''Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle'' || 1993 || DOS || Creative Director & Audio Team Member |- | ''Ultima VII Part Two: The Silver Seed'' || 1993 || DOS || Director & Voice Actor |- | ''Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds'' || 1993 || DOS, FM Towns & NEC PC-9801 || Director & Voice Actor |- | ''Ultima VIII: Pagan'' || 1994 || DOS || Producer |- | ''Ultima: Runes of Virtue II'' || 1994 || Game Boy || Creative Director & Additional Design |- | ''Ultima VIII: The Lost Vale Expansion Pack'' || Cancelled || DOS || Producer |- | ''Bioforge'' || 1995 || DOS || Executive Producer |- | ''Ultima Online'' || 1997 || Windows || Producer |- | ''Ultima Online: The Second Age'' || 1998 || Windows || Executive Designer |- | ''Lineage'' || 1998 || Windows & Mac OS X || Executive Producer |- | ''Ultima IX: Ascension'' || 1999 || Windows || Director |- | ''Lineage II || 2003 || Windows || Executive Producer |- | ''City of Heroes'' || 2004 || Windows || Executive Producer |- | ''City of Villains'' || 2005 || Windows || Executive Management |- | ''Tabula Rasa'' || 2007 || Windows || Executive Producer |- | ''Lord British's New Britannia'' || TBA || Browser Based || Executive Producer |}

References

External links

Richard Garriott's Public Web Site

Blog and details about Garriott's spaceflight

Spacefacts biography of Richard Garriott

Twitter page">Richard Garriott's Twitter page

Richard Garriott interview with ''Next Generation''

Richard Garriott interview on UORadio

Biography of Garriott from DragonCon.org Interview with Garriott in Austin Chronicle from 2000

Munchkin Village mayor tries to go to space: Computer programmer touts commercial space tourism (The Daily Texan, 7/19/2005)

Interview with Richard Garriott on space tourism (The Space Review, 8/8/2005)

The Dot Eaters article featuring a history of Garriott/Lord British, his games, and Origin.

Interview with Garriott on space and Operation Immortality featuring footage of Richard training.

Windows on Earth

MSNBC article entitled "Postcards From Space" about the amateur radio SSTV images sent from the ISS by Richard Garriott

BBC Breakfast News video interview with Richard Garriott filmed about 10 weeks prior to his space mission.

Category:1961 births Category:British video game designers Category:Video game programmers Category:Living people Category:People from Austin, Texas Category:People from Cambridge Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:Ultima Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni Category:Video game producers Category:American people of English descent Category:American astronauts Category:Space tourists Category:Amateur radio people Category:British astronauts Category:Winners of the Sir Arthur Clarke Award

ar:ريتشارد جاريوت bg:Ричард Гериът cs:Richard Garriott da:Richard Garriott de:Richard Garriott es:Richard Garriott fr:Richard Garriott ko:리처드 개리엇 it:Richard Garriott lv:Ričards Geriots nl:Richard Garriott ja:リチャード・ギャリオット pl:Richard Garriott pt:Richard Garriott ru:Гэрриот, Ричард Аллен sk:Richard Garriott fi:Richard Garriott sv:Richard Garriott zh:理查·蓋瑞特