“Gravity-Defying Dilemmas: The Ingenious Solutions Astronauts Use to Conquer the Ultimate Space Challenge!”
Another popular myth associated with the early American space program is that NASA had to change the size classifications on its UCDs in order to accommodate the astronaut’s legendary egos. This story seems to have originated with engineer Donald Retake – nicknamed “Dr. Flush” due to his extensive work on astronaut waste-collection systems – who stated in the 2008 Science Channel documentary series Moon Machines:
“Inside the urine collection assembly, which we call the pee pouch, is a one liter bag. And the attachment to the body was a condom with a hose on the end of it which allowed the urine to flow freely into the bag. The condoms initially came in three different sizes: small, medium and large. But few astronauts, whatever their real dimensions, refused to accept that they were anything but large. We changed the names to large, gigantic, and humongous.”
Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins repeated this anecdote in his 1974 autobiography Carrying the Fire: an Astronaut’s Journeys, writing that:
“…Then it’s time to don a triangular yellow plastic urine bag by inserting the penis into a rubber receiver built into one corner of it. There are three sizes of receivers (small, medium, large), which are always referred to in more heroic terms: extra large, immense, and unbelievable.”
In reality, this sizing system seems to have been merely an informal joke among the astronauts rather than a psychological trick played by NASA. Indeed, whatever their preconceptions and insecurities, the astronauts quickly learned from experience what size of sleeve to use, as Apollo 9 astronaut Russell “Rusty” Schweickart later recalled:
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