Spacey commode

The sun goes down, the day turns to night. You look up at the stars and see a light moving faster than the others - is it a satellite? A plane? The space station? Ooh, ooh it's the space station!

And, of course, your first thought is always, how do they pee up there?

Using the loo in space is not easy. There are separate methods for urination and defecation, with solids collected in bags and liquid collected in 20 litre containers. The urine receptacle attachments are differentiated for men and women. Users need to strap themselves in otherwise... well... you wouldn't want to drift off. The very small toilet opening for taking a crap means that careful alignment is key.

Watch as American astronaut Suni Williams takes you on a tour of the Space Station toilet

Astronauts need to train on the ground on how to use the 'space potty' before they jet off.

It's a different story for space shuttles; the old Apollos weren't equipped with toilets at all and astronauts had to use bags. A Russian company, which released a prototype for a new shuttle this week, has revealed that its design includes a fully functioning toilet. Loads of astronauts all around the world will, no doubt, be relieved.

No relief on space station

Cosmonauts and astronauts aboard the International Space Station are heading for a potential hygiene hazard with the malfunction of the toilet system. The system has been experiencing problems for the past week with each repair failing.

Without the assistance of gravity, space toilets use "fan-driven airflow to transport human waste away from a crew member's body". Read the full article here.

Currently, the crew is using the toilet in the transport trip Soyuz, but it has only a few days capacity. Fox news reports that the toilet is due to be replaced in a few months by a system that will transform urine into drinkable water.

Being stranded out in space with no toilet facilities is simply awful. Cosmonauts and astronauts already suffer many privations, but this seems to me the worst! No doubt, though, they're clever folk and they'll find relief somehow.