Moon Astronauts Forced to Do It in Bags as “Burning Odor” Emanates From Toilet
yahoo.com • • general
Key Points:
- NASA's Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed lunar mission since 1972, encountered repeated issues with its new Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) space toilet during the ten-day trip around the Moon.
- Initially, the toilet jammed by only accepting solid waste due to an unprimed pump, but after correction, it later experienced a blockage caused by frozen urine in the vent line.
- A burning odor was detected in the hygiene bay, likely from insulation heating around the toilet door, raising concerns about safety in the spacecraft's confined environment.
- To resolve the frozen urine blockage, mission controllers rotated the Orion capsule to warm the crystallized urine using sunlight, allowing limited toilet use before full functionality was restored.
- Despite the challenges, the UWMS represents a significant upgrade from the Apollo era's rudimentary waste management, incorporating features similar to those on the International Space Station and contingency devices like the Collapsible Contingency Urinal.
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