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Within a few hours of approaching the sky-penetrating launch into the Earth's orbit, onwards on a space odyssey around the Moon, the crew on Artemis 2 reported a glitch. The Orion spacecraft, while fit to handle the burgeoning forces of outer space, faced a rather unusual problem, the space toilet that would ease the tribulations of the four astronauts along their way around the Moon stopped working.
Christina Koch, Artemis 2 mission specialist, noted an issue starting up part of the Orion capsule’s toilet, NASA calls it the Universal Waste Management System. This system deals with urine collection and disposal. NASA spokesperson Gary Jordan said that the toilet fan was reported to be jammed during the live mission commentary. Now, the ground teams are coming up with instructions on how to access the fan and clear the area to revive the toilet for the mission.
Norm Knight, NASA’s director of flight operations, told reporters at the Kennedy Space Center that the malfunction was due to a controller issue in the toilet. NASA later confirmed that the astronauts could still use the space commode to relieve themselves, but just could not urinate. Engineers were then brought in to tackle the challenge and restore it to full service as soon as possible.
To ensure that the space travelers do not encounter any issues while surveying the Moon, NASA has added backup waste management capabilities for urinal discharge. Even in case the primary toilet faces any issue, the fecal collection capability can still be used with the waste management system onboard Orion.
A few hours after Koch reported the toilet issue to Mission Control, flight controllers took a series of steps to try and fix it.
After a thorough look at the system, Koch said, “Happy to report that the toilet is go for use.” Mission Control’s Capcom, Amy Dill, radioed Koch: “We do recommend letting the system get to operating speed before donating fluid, and then letting it run a little bit after donation.”
Christina Koch, Artemis 2 mission specialist, noted an issue starting up part of the Orion capsule’s toilet, NASA calls it the Universal Waste Management System. This system deals with urine collection and disposal. NASA spokesperson Gary Jordan said that the toilet fan was reported to be jammed during the live mission commentary. Now, the ground teams are coming up with instructions on how to access the fan and clear the area to revive the toilet for the mission.
Norm Knight, NASA’s director of flight operations, told reporters at the Kennedy Space Center that the malfunction was due to a controller issue in the toilet. NASA later confirmed that the astronauts could still use the space commode to relieve themselves, but just could not urinate. Engineers were then brought in to tackle the challenge and restore it to full service as soon as possible.
A Contingency Plan for the Space Travelers
To ensure that the space travelers do not encounter any issues while surveying the Moon, NASA has added backup waste management capabilities for urinal discharge. Even in case the primary toilet faces any issue, the fecal collection capability can still be used with the waste management system onboard Orion.
A few hours after Koch reported the toilet issue to Mission Control, flight controllers took a series of steps to try and fix it.
After a thorough look at the system, Koch said, “Happy to report that the toilet is go for use.” Mission Control’s Capcom, Amy Dill, radioed Koch: “We do recommend letting the system get to operating speed before donating fluid, and then letting it run a little bit after donation.”
