Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In today's video we are looking at a series of incredible engineering tales from the insane engineering that went into going to the bathroom in space, to how stealth technology actually works, to the crazy cool nuclear powered rocket, to the story behind the invention of the transistor, to the one and only ragged chute air plant.
It was 8:15 AM on May 5, 1961, and astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. was facing an unexpected crisis. Chosen to be the first American - and the second human - in history to blast into space, at 5:15 AM Shepard had been strapped into his Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 and the hatch bolted shut behind him. Liftoff was scheduled for 7:20 AM, but a series of delays caused by cloud cover over Cape Canaveral and various technical glitches resulted in Shepard sitting atop his Redstone rocket for over three hours. Soon, an unwelcome feeling began to creep over Shepard’s body, growing worse and worse with every passing minute. At first he tried to ignore it, but eventually the feeling became so unbearable Shepard was forced radio his Capsule Communicator or CapCom: he had to urinate - badly. Mission Control was stunned. No one had even considered how Shepard was supposed answer the call of nature; after all, his suborbital mission was only supposed to last 15 minutes. It was a problem which has plagued astronauts ever since, prompting engineers to develop a variety of weird, wonderful - and sometimes disgusting - solutions. This is the story of how astronauts boldly “go” where no one has gone before.
Prior to the Space Race, little thought was given to how future astronauts would relieve themselves during missions. The first system for collecting urine during long flights was developed in 1955 for pilots of the Lockheed U2 spy plane, who, flying at altitudes in excess of 21,000 metres, had to wear partial-pressure suits in order to survive. This system took the form of an in-dwelling catheter, a small plastic tube threaded up the pilot’s urethra into their bladder which automatically siphoned urine through a hose into a collection bag. As you can imagine, this system was extremely uncomfortable and decidedly less than popular with pilots. It also ran the risk of irritating or damaging the urethra walls and causing urinary tract infections. Later, an external system was developed that used a condom-like latex sleeve that rolled over the pilot’s penis. But while significantly more comfortable than the catheter, this Urine Collection Device or UCD was not without its problems. Indeed, in a 2010 survey of U2 pilots based at Beale Air Force Base in California, 60% of respondents reported problems with their UCDs, including poor fit, leakage, and skin irritation from prolonged contact with urine...
0:00 The Incredible and Hilarious Engineering of Answering Nature's Call... IN SPACE!
31:40 How Does Stealth Technology Actually Work
56:12 Incredible Engineering: The Nuclear Powered Rocket
1:26:53 Incredible Engineering- Inventing the Transistor
1:49:14 Engineering Marvels- The Ragged Chute Air Plant
In today's video we are looking at a series of incredible engineering tales from the insane engineering that went into going to the bathroom in space, to how stealth technology actually works, to the crazy cool nuclear powered rocket, to the story behind the invention of the transistor, to the one and only ragged chute air plant.
It was 8:15 AM on May 5, 1961, and astronaut Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. was facing an unexpected crisis. Chosen to be the first American - and the second human - in history to blast into space, at 5:15 AM Shepard had been strapped into his Mercury spacecraft Freedom 7 and the hatch bolted shut behind him. Liftoff was scheduled for 7:20 AM, but a series of delays caused by cloud cover over Cape Canaveral and various technical glitches resulted in Shepard sitting atop his Redstone rocket for over three hours. Soon, an unwelcome feeling began to creep over Shepard’s body, growing worse and worse with every passing minute. At first he tried to ignore it, but eventually the feeling became so unbearable Shepard was forced radio his Capsule Communicator or CapCom: he had to urinate - badly. Mission Control was stunned. No one had even considered how Shepard was supposed answer the call of nature; after all, his suborbital mission was only supposed to last 15 minutes. It was a problem which has plagued astronauts ever since, prompting engineers to develop a variety of weird, wonderful - and sometimes disgusting - solutions. This is the story of how astronauts boldly “go” where no one has gone before.
Prior to the Space Race, little thought was given to how future astronauts would relieve themselves during missions. The first system for collecting urine during long flights was developed in 1955 for pilots of the Lockheed U2 spy plane, who, flying at altitudes in excess of 21,000 metres, had to wear partial-pressure suits in order to survive. This system took the form of an in-dwelling catheter, a small plastic tube threaded up the pilot’s urethra into their bladder which automatically siphoned urine through a hose into a collection bag. As you can imagine, this system was extremely uncomfortable and decidedly less than popular with pilots. It also ran the risk of irritating or damaging the urethra walls and causing urinary tract infections. Later, an external system was developed that used a condom-like latex sleeve that rolled over the pilot’s penis. But while significantly more comfortable than the catheter, this Urine Collection Device or UCD was not without its problems. Indeed, in a 2010 survey of U2 pilots based at Beale Air Force Base in California, 60% of respondents reported problems with their UCDs, including poor fit, leakage, and skin irritation from prolonged contact with urine...
0:00 The Incredible and Hilarious Engineering of Answering Nature's Call... IN SPACE!
31:40 How Does Stealth Technology Actually Work
56:12 Incredible Engineering: The Nuclear Powered Rocket
1:26:53 Incredible Engineering- Inventing the Transistor
1:49:14 Engineering Marvels- The Ragged Chute Air Plant
