Bioastronautics: what's in a fart?

Coming on the heels of my last post, I present this exhibit in favor of NASA funding:



Josh Torchinsky, rummaging somewhere, came upon this NASA publication Bioastronautics Data Book from 1964, which is apparently a collection of information on all the I+O's (or at least O's) that a spaceship designer might need to know about in designing a contained false atmosphere to house our fragile bodies in cold, barren space. From the scan of the following page, we learn that a fart is in fact only 3-7% methane, and 3-5% oxygen. For me, this answers the question I have pondered periodically since childhood: if you were trapped in an enclosed space with your farts, could you continue to breath? (No.) Types who were more rambunctious in youth may be interested to know that a fart is 12-20% hydrogen, which is, I assume, why you can light it with a match or a campfire...



via BoingBoing