A lot is being talked about how astronauts living in places like the International Space Station (ISS) where gravity is too weak drink water, sleep or walk. And how they dispose of their body’s waste?

Such activity could be a major problem in places like the US where the process of producing waste could pose some difficulties to astronauts. Now, Samantha Cristoforetti, astronaut of European Space Agency (ESA), has shed light on how astronauts use toilet in space.

On Friday, ESA uploaded a video on YouTube, where Cristoforetti has been seen explaining how astronauts like her use space toilet. During the video, the astronaut provided information on the device that has been used in the space. She said about the procedures that astronauts on the space station go through when they use toilet. According to her, during the situation of ‘Number one’ and ‘number two’, the astronauts use a small receptacle, which is a unit for recycling urine and a rubber suction hose.

Cristoforetti said that unlike on earth, urine of an astronaut is recycled in the space station in order to reduce the quantity of water that is delivered to the ISS. It involves a complex filtration and sanitation process before the water can be used again by the astronauts.

According to Cristoforetti, astronauts on the space station go to the station's toilet cabin when they have to use it. That time, they urinate into the rubber hose that has a suction to collect urine. After that, the urine moves to urine processing assembly (UPA), where it is recycled into water.

She said, “A suctioning hose is also used, but the feces are stored in a waste tank, which is changed once in 10 days depending on the size of the crew onboard the ISS”.