Some Soviet space memorabilia is going to be auctioned off in Berlin on September 13th by German pop artist Andora, who painted the side of a Soviet Proton booster once. What are you into? There’s a bottle of cognac “consumed and signed” by first spaceman Yuri Gagarin. These space shoes though. Care for some vintage space painkillers? Look at this fucking sweet thermos. Or maybe you want to dress up your dog in this Dog Space Suit with Breathing Tube circa 1950. But for a true connoisseur…
Behold, one of USSR’s “early kinds of toilets,” just like the kind that were used aboard the orbital capsule of the Soyuz spaceship. It sounds like a very ceremonial way of taking a piss, even if you have the space-travel-friendly outside kind of genitals.
The male toilet with the white pot and a rubber hose is designed for the disposal of liquids and solid waste. It works on the suction principle as there is an on/off petcock. This toilet is inscribed ‘OTKPbITO‘,‘3AKPbITO‘ and ‘ф1-9060-300-01 0320379‘.
The male urine collection device disposes of liquids only. The unit consists of a place for a collection cup to be attached, via a valve, to a squeezable rubber syphon, which, in turn, has a wire-wrapped plastic hose and metal connection attached. There is a rubber storage bladder included (similar to a hot water bottle). These pieces are numbered on the screws ‘A VII-9060-800 / N56 / ДАТА OTK 2’ and ‘AVI-9060-430 N 206’. The bag is numbered ‘3514312 82018 Б52 52’ and the metal piece of this part of the toilet ‘Ф 1-9060-300-01 03220379’.
The starting bid is only € 600.00 ($787.67) for the cup-tube-pump-bag, an important technological landmark for shitting in space:
In older systems, the waste water used to be vented into space and any solids were compressed and stored for removal upon landing. Newer systems pressured solid waste to vacuum and killed bacteria and odor problems in that way. Today, the used air is filtered and returned to the cabin.
Though some of the “flown” space-related auction items come bragging about having actually made it into space, it appears that the Space Toilet & Water Canister hasn’t. It is, however, used. Someone had an interesting time with this space apparatus. On Earth.
They are in good, but used condition. The water canister is partly dented. In the bag is a small hole.
(Images: Auctionata)
