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NASA may be known for its brilliant employees, technical advances, and lofty projects, but according to a persistent Internet rumor, its astronauts are not immune to penis envy: This rumor about urinary sleeve sizes stems from the Space Suit episode of Moon Machines, a 2008 Science Channel documentary miniseries documenting the engineering challenges of the Apollo space program. Donald Rethke, who earned the nickname Dr. Flush for his work on zero-gravity waste management, stated in the interview for the documentary the size chart for the urinary condoms attached to the Maximum Absorbency Garment space suit system had to be changed because astronauts refused to choose the small size: While this humorous anecdote certainly has an element of truth to it, Dr. Flush embellished the story. Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins told a similar tale in his 1974 book Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys, but Collins reported the sizes were changed to extra large, immense, and unbelievable. More significantly, Collins suggested these heroic terms were merely informal references, not official designations: Collins and Dr. Flush may disagree on what these new sizes were commonly called, but choosing the right condom size was indeed an issue that vexed the Apollo astronauts. Russell Schweickart, the Lunar Module Pilot on the 1969 Apollo 9 mission, said in an interview urinating in space was a little tricky: Given the differing accounts provided by Schweickart, Collins, and Dr. Flush, it is highly unlikely this name change was made on any official level at NASA. It does appear, however, that potty humor is alive and well in outer space.
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