Space and Physics
PUBLISHED
Artemis II is successfully off to go around the Moon. The launch is a historic moment: the human return to deep space after more than 50 years, as NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, go even farther than any humans have gone before. On top of that, Glover is the first Black person and Koch will be the first woman to go to deep space.
The Artemis II capsule, Orion, is a major improvement on what was available on Apollo, and it includes a toilet – or, as NASA calls it, a Waste Management System. The Artemis II toilet is currently the 10th toilet in space and the first ever that will travel to deep space. Apollo did not have one. While that is exciting, it might need some troubleshooting, as just before launch it became clear that there was an issue with it.
Basically, there is a small malfunction with the fan in the toilet – a controller issue. This means that the astronauts will not be able to use the commode to urinate in until that is fixed. Engineers are working on a fix that the astronauts can employ to bring it back to full function. But worst comes to worst, they can still poop in it, and they can use a backup system to pee.
“The toilet fan is reported to be jammed,” NASA spokesperson Gary Jordan said during live mission commentary. “Now the ground teams are coming up with instructions on how to get into the fan and clear that area to revive the toilet for the mission.”
“In the meantime, they're getting their contingency – their backup waste management capabilities specifically for urine. The fecal collection of the toilet, that specific capability, can still be used with the waste management system aboard Orion.”
As spacecraft go, Orion is not that spacious. With a volume of about 9 cubic meters (330 cubic feet), give or take half a cubic meter, it is larger than the Apollo command and service module. It is also designed to be extremely versatile, with different elements of the spacecraft that can be reconfigured once Orion is in microgravity.
So the toilet, designed for use in space, is in what’s basically the floor when the spacecraft launches. Floor and ceiling are useless concepts when you are not experiencing the directional pull of gravity. And it’s not just the toilet – the capsule has a galley for preparing meals. It also has room for exercise, something essential for astronauts to do in space, as muscle loss begins quickly below a certain gravity threshold.
Still, despite issues, the toilet mitigates noises and odors, making the mission a lot more hygienic, and there’s no chance of a repetition of the infamous floating mystery turds that interrupted the Apollo 10 mission... twice!
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