In the scale of things, it’s not as bad as a malfunctioning computer trying to seize control of your spaceship or having a lethal alien on board. Instead the problem for 13 astronauts on the crowded space shuttle and space station is much more down to earth: a bunged-up toilet.
With the main toilet on the International Space Station broken down, the six residents in the space station are down to just one loo, while the seven-member crew of the shuttle Endeavour are restricted to the spacecraft’s toilet.
On Tuesday, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing the unglamorous task of repairing the broken toilet fell to Belgian Frank de Winne and American Michael Barratt. Equipped with goggles, gloves and masks, they ripped apart the compartment, working well into the evening. But to no avail.
“Put an ‘out-of-service’ note on the WHC [waste and hygiene compartment],” mission control told a crewmember after the failed repair attempts.
Nasa says the problem is not critical yet, but if the toilet remains out of action for several days, “then we’ll readdress the situation and see what we have to do”. For the mission, Nasa wanted at least four of Endeavour‘s crew to use the space station’s bathrooms, so the shuttle waste watertank would not fill up.
As long as Endeavour is docked to the space station, it cannot eject any waste water amid worries that it could contaminate the station’s newly installed platform for science experiments. The porch-like facility, mounted during a spacewalk on Saturday, will be used to hold experiments that need to be exposed to the open environment of space.
As sending a plumber into orbit is not an option, the shuttle and space station for the 13 astronauts — the most in space at one time — will resemble a crowded student flat, too many people, not enough toilets. But if things get really desperate, Apollo-era urine collection bags are on board. Probably not quite how the astronauts would want to celebrate the anniversary of the moon landings. – guardian.co.uk