# @science on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DW4U2h0Eywd
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/63606170-science-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/e9a5e7b857.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-08T18:05:14.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Science 🧬 (@science) — https://gondola.cc/science

## Caption

🧑‍🚀 According to a former NASA life support system expert who helped construct space diapers, otherwise known as Maximum Absorbency Garment systems, each astronaut in the Gemini and Apollo programs had to wear a rubber-type sheath with a hole at the end for urination inside their suits.⁠
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In an interview on the Science Channel's Moon Machines documentary series about early space travel, engineer Donald Rethke, known in space history circles as "Dr. Flush", describes how these rubbers came in specific sizes to accommodate each astronaut's anatomical size.⁠
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Astronauts had to estimate their size correctly. If they claimed to be bigger than they were, the sheath would be loose, and liquid leakage could damage the suits and lead to bigger problems for mission astronauts.⁠
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👀 The rubber initially came in only three sizes: small, medium, and large. Of course, every astronaut fancied himself a large one, and why not? He was riding on the top of a powerful, potentially dangerous rocket, exploring parts of the outer world that men had not yet touched. No one wants to be called "small" when planting an American flag on lunar soil.⁠
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In the Moon Machines interview, Rethke said that the sizes were changed to large, gigantic, and humongous to better cope with the astronaut's sense of humor.⁠
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#nasa #space #astronauts #spacefacts #sciencefacts #funnyfacts

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## Tags

nasa, spacefacts, sciencefacts, astronauts, space, funnyfacts

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