To io9: You All Forgot About John Young Farting on the Moon


“To Charlie Duke…I am so sorry. My best, John Young’s GI Tract.” NASA photo. 

Recently, the great web site io9 published some Very Important Information about what happens when astronauts fart in space. While this is a great piece, let’s talk about some poopular digestive problems which some astronauts publicly encountered during their forays into poopdom history. 

We’ve all heard about some astronauts encountering space sickness (the most famous offenders: Frank Borman’s Apollo 8 Seconal barfs, Rusty Schweickart’s Apollo 9 general grossness and Sen. Jake Garn’s barf-tastic shuttle flight in the 1980s). However, this problem isn’t really food-related as much as being related to motion sickness. The inner ear can be really sensitive to weightlessness and sudden changes in G-forces, which is why everybody ever at NASA puked on the MASTIF trainer and the “Vomit Comet” parabolic flight plane. After Skylab 2, Dr. Joe Kerwin famously barfed his guts out after splashdown due to motion sickness, which is pretty understandable. I am a macho chick and I’ve puked after swimming. Enough said. 

Allegedly, Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean took so much Imodium before his 1969 flight that he didn’t poop for eight days. Bean made it abundantly clear that he did not want to leave any “gifts” in space. I believe Bill Anders of Apollo 8 did something similar and ate an extremely low-residue diet so he wouldn’t produce any Space Gifts. How can you all expect me to talk about poop seriously? Come on. Everybody poops!


Emily Carney is a writer, space enthusiast, and creator of the This Space Available space blog, published since 2010. In January 2019, Emily’s This Space Available blog was incorporated into the National Space Society’s blog. The content of Emily’s blog can be accessed via the This Space Available blog category.

Note: The views expressed in This Space Available are those of the author and should not be considered as representing the positions or views of the National Space Society.

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Picture of Emily Carney

Emily Carney

Leave a Comment

Search
Categories
future 1

Don't Miss a Beat!

Be the first to know when new articles are posted!

Follow Us On Social Media

JOIN THE
GREATEST ADVENTURE

Give The Gift Of Space: Membership For Friends and Family

Book Review

Archives

ISDC 2025:
Together Beyond!

In Orlando at the Rosen Centre Hotel.
June 19 - 22, 2025

Recent Blog Posts

The fifth annual Martine Rothblatt Space Settlement in Our Lifetime business plan competition wrapped up in late June at the National Space Society’s International Space

The National Space Society invites you to the next Space Forum Thursday, June 12, 2024, 9:00 pm to 10:15 pm EST Behind the Lens: CapturingFive

Isaacman Will Be the Featured Speaker at Dinner Event on June 21 in Orlando, FL Private astronaut and philanthropist Jared Isaacman will speak at the

Category: Nonfiction Reviewed by: Susan Raizer Title: Into the Void: Adventures of the Spacewalkers Author: John Youskauskas and Melvin Croft Format: Hardcover/Kindle/Audiobook Pages: 392 Publisher:

The National Space Society has just released a Position Paper on the NASA 2026 Skinny Budget. Précis: NSS advocates increasing NASA’s budget rather than reducing

Category: Nonfiction Reviewed by: Douglas G. Adler Title: Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact Author: Keith Cooper Format: Hardcover/Kindle Pages: 224 Publisher: Reaktion

National Space Society Annual Event Will Be Held on June 19-22 in Orlando, FL The National Space Society is pleased to announce that former NASA

The National Space Society invites you to the next Space Forum Thursday, May 22, 2024, 9:00 pm to 10:15 pm EST Blue Ghost’s Moon Mission:

Your Doorway to New Worlds