--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's no way you can use water to…" description: "\"There's no way you can use water to collect waste in zero gravity. So, basically, our toilet on shuttle operations is a vacuum cleaner. The urinal look..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/mike-mullane-40841_cleaners_there-s-no-way-you-can-use-water-to-coll_2728266.jpg" --- # There's no way you can use water to collect waste in zero… ![“There's no way you can use water to collect waste in zero gravity. So, basically, our toilet on shuttle operations is a vacuum cleaner. The urinal looks like a Shop-Vac hose. It has different-shaped fronts on it for males and females to use. The urine is sucked down that hose and goes into a tank.” quote by Mike Mullane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/mike-mullane-40841_cleaners_there-s-no-way-you-can-use-water-to-coll_2728266.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/mike-mullane-40841_cleaners_there-s-no-way-you-can-use-water-to-coll_2728266.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/03e/mike-mullane-40841_cleaners_there-s-no-way-you-can-use-water-to-coll_2728266.jpg) > “There's no way you can use water to collect waste in zero gravity. So, basically, our toilet on shuttle operations is a vacuum cleaner. The urinal looks like a Shop-Vac hose. It has different-shaped fronts on it for males and females to use. The urine is sucked down that hose and goes into a tank.” [Mike Mullane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-mullane/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. In microgravity, waste must be removed by suction because fluids don’t flow naturally; the shuttle’s toilet works like a vacuum. **In simple terms:** Space toilets use suction to collect waste because there’s no gravity. Key Takeaway Design waste‑removal systems for zero‑gravity environments. Themes spacecraft engineering human factors Mood technical practical Type informational descriptive When to use this quote - space missions - astronaut training - spacecraft design - life support systems Key Concepts microgravity fluid dynamics vacuum waste collection Questions to Reflect On - How does zero‑gravity affect everyday tasks? - What design improvements could reduce noise? A Different Perspective Suction systems need power and maintenance, and can be noisy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gravity/) [Males](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/males/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Tanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tanks/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Zero gravity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zero-gravity/) ## Related quotes > [ It was practically with people with strings. There was no CG involved, it was just painfully taking Collin \[Farrell\] and Jessica Biel and putting… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/len-wiseman/it-was-practically-with-people-with-strings-there-was-no-cg-involved/) [Len Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/len-wiseman/) > [When you're in zero gravity everything moves at the same speed and nothing stops it. If you throw something it travels forever but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-boyle/when-you-re-in-zero-gravity-everything-moves-at-the-same-speed-and/) [Danny Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-boyle/) > [You make me float free. My love for you is endless. No ties are binding me. 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And it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-whitson/zero-gravity-is-such-an-alien-environment-completely-different-from/) [Peggy Whitson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-whitson/) > [It was a strange lightness, a drifting feeling. Zero gravity. I understood that everything that once seemed solid and immovable might just float away.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-unger/it-was-a-strange-lightness-a-drifting-feeling-zero-gravity-i/) [Lisa Unger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-unger/) > [“And tonight I'm feelin like an astronaut, sending sos from this tiny box,and i lost the signal when i lifted off, now i'm stuck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simple-plan/and-tonight-i-m-feelin-like-an-astronaut-sending-sos-from-this-tiny/) [Simple Plan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simple-plan/) ## More by Mike Mullane > [ The opening for solid waste is very small \[in the space ship\]. It's not toilet-bowl size. And aim is critical. 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I remember that my father was the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-o-donnell/i-am-an-obsessive-garage-cleaner-my-wife-and-the-neighbors-make-fun/) [Chris O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-o-donnell/) > [The easy glamour of the French Riviera in the late 1960s - inspired by Romy Schneider's character in La Piscine - mixed with garden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tory-burch/the-easy-glamour-of-the-french-riviera-in-the-late-1960s-inspired-by/) [Tory Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tory-burch/) > [Marriage is like a vacuum cleaner. You stick it to your ear and it sucks out all your energy and ambition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marlo-thomas/marriage-is-like-a-vacuum-cleaner-you-stick-it-to-your-ear-and-it/) [Marlo Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marlo-thomas/) > [In 1966, while working on a feature about a Picasso exhibition at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, I recorded the pre-opening preparations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micha-bar-am/in-1966-while-working-on-a-feature-about-a-picasso-exhibition-at-the/) Micha Bar-Am > [I've a neater, sweeter maiden in a cleaner, greener land!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/i-ve-a-neater-sweeter-maiden-in-a-cleaner-greener-land/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [We don't need women. There are plenty other things in the world to have sex with, just go to a sexaholics meeting and take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-don-t-need-women-there-are-plenty-other-things-in-the-world-to/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) Browse all 251 Cleaners quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's no way you can use water to collect waste in zero gravity. So, basically, our toilet on shuttle operations is a vacuum cleaner. The urinal looks like a Shop-Vac hose. It has different-shaped fronts on it for males and females to use. 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