When there's no place to go ...(space station toilet broken)

[Theunicornhunter 2]

The international space station's lone toilet is broken, leaving the crew with almost nowhere to go. So NASA may order an in-orbit plumbing service call when space shuttle Discovery visits next week.

 

Until then, the three-man crew will have to make do with a jury-rigged system when they need to urinate.

 

While one of the crew was using the Russian-made toilet last week, the toilet motor fan stopped working, according to NASA. Since then, the liquid waste gathering part of the toilet has been working on-and-off.

 

Fortunately, the solid waste collecting part is functioning normally.

 

Russian officials don't know the cause of the problem, and the crew has been unable to fix it.

 

The crew has used the toilet on the Soyuz return capsule, but it has a limited capacity. They are now are using a backup bag-like collection system that can be connected to the broken toilet, according to NASA public affairs officials.

 

"Like any home anywhere, the importance of having a working bathroom is obvious," NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said.

 

There's no going in the bushes here folks -

[BakulaBabe 2]

Yeah, they can't exactly open the door and step outside. I hope they get that problem fixed soon, before things get too unpleasant.

[Wishfire 2]

I wonder, at first, how often one of them said "To boldly go where no man has gone before!" while using whatever they jury-rigged.

[He Who Shall Not Be Named 2]

It depends on who is up there. They might not be from English-speaking countries.

 

But obviously they haven't thought this issue out very well. The solid waste processor is working, right? Just turn off the heat so the pee solidifies, and presto! Solid pee waste.

[Wishfire 2]

Okay, so they'll say "Смело пойти, куда никакой человек не пошел прежде," instead.