Early NASA diapers forced astronauts to disclose the size of their manhood

Early NASA missions left astronauts unable to use ordinary toilets, so crews needed ways to manage urination inside their suits. One solution was a collection device worn over the penis and connected to a tube; later, absorbent garments served as a kind of diaper. Getting the equipment to fit properly was a practical necessity, not a matter of vanity: a poor fit could leak and create a problem in the cramped spacecraft.

The sizing process made the issue unusually personal. Male astronauts had to tell NASA which size they needed, effectively disclosing information about their genitals so the equipment could be supplied. A familiar space-program anecdote says astronauts tended to choose the largest option when sizes were labeled “small,” “medium” and “large,” and that NASA responded by changing the labels to more imposing alternatives. The story highlights how even celebrated missions such as Apollo depended on mundane, uncomfortable engineering details. Alongside its gallery of Apollo-era photographs, the piece uses this episode to show the human and logistical realities behind spaceflight, where bodily functions had to be handled with the same care as spacecraft systems.