Moon Astronauts Forced to Do It in Bags as “Burning Odor” Emanates From Toilet
Yahoo • • science
Key Points:
- NASA's Artemis 2 mission, the first crewed lunar mission since 1972, encountered significant issues with its new Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) space toilet shortly after launch.
- The toilet initially jammed, only accepting solid waste, which was temporarily resolved when astronaut Christina Koch primed the pump with more liquid.
- The toilet malfunctioned again due to frozen urine in the vent line, causing waste dumping problems and a burning odor in the hygiene bay likely from heated insulation.
- NASA devised a solution by rotating the Orion capsule to warm and thaw the frozen urine line using sunlight, allowing limited toilet use before fully restoring functionality.
- Despite these challenges, the UWMS represents a major improvement over Apollo-era waste management, with contingency plans like the Collapsible Contingency Urinal (CCU) in place to support the crew.
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