New York: The Artemis II astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — are more than halfway to the moon on their historic lunar fly-around mission to push even deeper into space than the Apollo astronauts.
However, they are facing a toilet problem.
The ‘lunar loo’ on the Orion capsule has been specially designed for improved comfort, privacy and hygiene, including a dedicated door, seat and suction technology for both urine and feces. The 3D-printed titanium toilet is meant for male and female users, unlike older systems or bags.
The advanced $23 million Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) malfunctioned following Wednesday’s liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center, and has been hit-and-miss ever since, reported Asso
ciated Press.
Debbie Korth, NASA’s Orion programme deputy manager, said the astronauts have reported a smell coming from the bathroom.
“Space toilets and bathrooms are something everybody can really understand.. it’s always a challenge,” she said.
Until the Orion capsule’s bathroom is fixed, Mission Control has instructed the astronauts to break out more of the backup urine collection bags. The so-called lunar loo malfunctioned following Wednesday’s liftoff and has been hit-and-miss ever since.
The ‘culprit’, engineers suspect, could be ice which is possibly blocking the line and preventing urine from completely flushing overboard.
The quartet is scheduled set to reach their destination on Monday.
“The Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger,” pilot Victor Glover reported.
If successful, Artemis II will set a distance record for human beings by traveling more than 252,000 miles (400,000 kilometres) from Earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon and heading home without stopping or entering lunar orbit. The existing record is held by Apollo 13 mission, almost 56 years ago.