POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Russian space toilet

Object No. 97/4/1

Waste management system, male, 'ACo-III', metal/ plastic/ rubber, Zvezda, USSR, 1967

Loading...

Summary

Physical Description

Complete ACo-III waste management system (space toilet) with male receptacle, designed for use on Soviet Soyuz spacecraft. The unit consists of a male receptacle for urine and faeces, a control panel, connecting hoses, fan, pump, and filters. The waste receptacle has a bowl-shaped cream enamelled metal faeces receptacle, with a leather padded rim. A plastic, one-size-fits-all urine receptacle is set at an angle to the faeces receptacle so that, when held in position with the handle, the urine receptacle would be in line with the penis, while the faeces receptacle would be in line with the anus. The positioning handle has a yellow plastic hand grip. The pump for the unit is of grey metal, and there are 4 other filter/fan units of cream-enamelled metal. The control panel, which shows lugs for wall mounting, has 2 lights and a toggle switch with 3 ventilation settings. These settings match those on a brass switch on the waste collection device itself. All components are marked with serial numbers and data in Cyrillic script; the control panel is labelled in Cyrillic. There is also an additional rubber diaphragm that apparently fits into the faeces receptacle. It has a soft rubber top, with an overlapping slit. Metal clips at either end fit into matching slots on the receptacle itself. The device has a pouch-like soft rubber underside, with a central linen mesh.

PRODUCTION

Notes

The ACo III (abbreviation for the Russian words for 'Waste Management System' model III) space toilet was designed for use with Soviet Soyuz spacecraft, to enable cosmonauts to relieve themselves in an hygienic and tidy manner that reduced the risk of urine or faeces spilling into the cabin. Space toilets have been designed, since the beginning of the Soviet crewed space program by Zvezda, one of the major Design Bureaux connected with the Soviet space program and now a quasi-independent company working for the Russian Space Agency. A certificate from Zvezda, in Russian with a certified English translation, accompanies this waste management system. It is signed by the agency's Director, G.I. Severin, and confirms the Zvezda design and manufacture of the system. The ACoIII waste management system was manufactured by the Zvezda Design Bureau in its own facilities, probably in Moscow. Some components of the system carry date plates indicating that they were manufactured in 1967. However the entire system would have been put together as a complete flight unit in 1968, prior to the Soyuz 3 mission.

HISTORY

Notes

Designed for use with Soyuz spacecraft. The system works by using a fan-driven partial vacuum to collect the urine and faeces, with purfiers to wash and clean air used in the process. The urine was dumped overboard; the faeces was collected in a holding tank and disposed afer return to Earth. The first space toilet was used on the Vostok-2 mission in 1961. As the systems were used on each flight, the design was continually modified and refined in response to cosmonaut and engineering experience. Was flown on board the Soyuz-3 mission, 26 Oct-30 Oct 1968. During the flight the toilet was used by Lt General Georgi T. Beregovoi (1921-1995), the sole cosmonaut on board. This was the first in-flight use of the ACo III system. After the flight, the space toilet was removed by Zvezda engineers so that they could disassemble it, assess its utility and discuss with Beregovoi its possible design flaws and further improvements.

SOURCE

Credit Line

Purchased 1997

Acquisition Date

20 January 1997

Copyright for the above image is held by the Powerhouse and may be subject to third-party copyright restrictions. Please submit an Image Licensing Enquiry for information regarding reproduction, copyright and fees. Text is released under Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivative licence.

Image Licensing Enquiry

Object Enquiry