Posted on 04/06/2026 9:55:57 PM PDT by algore
The toilet on board the Artemis II spacecraft has reportedly broken down again, leaving the four astronauts on board with no working bathroom on their return to Earth.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen will reportedly now have to switch to a diaper-like alternative for the remainder of the trip back to Earth.
The space agency later confirmed that the toilet was not working as the Artemis flight reached day six in their ten-day mission.
NASA has previously said that in the event the space capsule's toilet stopped working, the astronauts would need to switch to a device called the Collapsible Contingency Urinal (CCU).
The CCU is a backup system for urine collection developed specifically for the Artemis moon missions.
Simply put, it is a plastic bag with special inner surfaces called hydrophilic vanes that act like tiny channels. These channels use capillary action, the same natural force that makes a paper towel soak up a spill, which pulls the urine away from the astronaut and down to the bottom of the bag.
At the bottom of the bag is a small drain port. The crew can connect it to the spacecraft's systems and safely release the urine into space.
In both cases, NASA confirmed that the astronauts were still able to use the malfunctioning toilet for bowel movements.
If the Artemis toilet has completely broken down and can no longer handle solid waste collection, the four astronauts would have to fall back to older-style fecal collection bags.
These are basically sealed plastic bags with adhesives and wipes. These were used on the Apollo moon missions.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Haha!!
Excellent video. Thanks for posting.
Hardly any grocery bags can hold water. Almost all of them have holes in the bottom. Designed that way so small animals and marine life can get their heads stuck. /s
You left one bit out.
The crew discovered when they went to use it the first time that the filter had not been pre-installed.
And somehow that wasn’t caught.
Considering all the issues since with that thing, I’m beginning to wonder if there isn’t more going on.
NASA is a massive federal bureaucracy, employing nearly 18,000 civil servants alongside numerous contractors, structured through 10 field centers and multiple mission directorates. It is characterized by a hierarchical, risk-averse, and highly political structure that often struggles with inefficient, competing centers.
Life mimics art. There was an episode of “Big Bang Theory” where Wolowitz has to mock up a fix to the broken international space station toilet. Season 2 episode 22
“Done to the planet”
Made it an out of focus meme?
Known to the rest of us as clouds.
Which is what he's seeing.
It helps to get a plane tracker app on your phone.
They only do it at 30-40,000 ft.
All Airlines, no matter what country of origin, make vapor trails.
Bags and water bottles it is!
Luckily, they are going back soon.
Maybe they can hold it until they land!
They can provide four portable loos at the landing site!
When fishing it’s a good idea to drop a sinker into the bag and tear a hole in it so it will sink after a while. Not sure what protocol to use in space though. Might have to deal with it at splash down.
Where’s Howard Wolowitz when you need him?
Whooboy! Can’t wait to visit THAT museum piece in the future.
Have you smelled, I mean seen, the Artimis number 2?
Not yet, but I heard Artemis 3 is a real puker.
"Chemtrailng" has absolutely nothing to do with it.
How many people would be left on this website if it were cleared of conspiracy theorists and Russian disinformation assets? Ten?
Old newspaper headline:
Portable Toilet Explodes, Cops Have Nothing To Go On
"Every Spring the toilets explode."
"You're talking about Delta, Sir?"
"Of course I'm talking about Delta, you twerp!"
...if they only had only India Indians as crew. Then there would be no problem.
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