Just hours after lifting off on April 1, Moon-bound Nasa’s Artemis II crew realised that the Orion spacecraft’s toilet pump was not working properly. There was not enough water to prime the system. The problem was fixed quickly, and astronaut Christina Koch jokingly said that she was proud to be the mission’s “space plumber”.
But days later, as the spacecraft travelled nearly 3.2 lakh km from Earth on its way to the Moon, the Orion capsule developed a second, more serious toilet problem.
In the early hours of Saturday, day-three of the Artemis II mission, the toilet could no longer dump urine overboard because frozen urine had clogged the vent line. Mission controllers rotated the spacecraft, so sunlight could warm the frozen section, which partially cleared the blockage. For some time, the crew had to rely on backup urine collection bags before mission control eventually declared that the toilet was once again fully usable.
In addition to the frozen urine vent, the Artemis II crew also reported a strange smell coming from the toilet area.
The Orion toilet is based on technology that Nasa has tested on the International Space Station and developed with Collins Aerospace under a contract reportedly worth around 30 million dollars.
The crew of Artemis II entered the Moon’s sphere of influence on Monday (day-five) and is set for a lunar flyby later in the day.
WHAT HAPPENED TO TOILET HOURS AFTER ARTEMIS II LAUNCH?
According to American broadcaster CNN, the first toilet issue surfaced shortly after the Orion spacecraft reached orbit following its April 1 launch from the Kennedy Space Center in the US’s Florida.
The pump inside Orion’s waste management system was not working because the crew had not added enough water for it to work. In microgravity, toilets need pumps to help pull waste away from the body because there is no gravity to assist.
The issue turned out to be relatively simple to fix. After the astronauts topped up the water, the system began functioning again.
Speaking to reporters from space on Thursday, astronaut Christina Koch said the crew had initially worried there might be a more serious mechanical fault.
“I’m proud to call myself the space plumber,” Koch said. “We were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine. We did originally think that there could have been potentially something fouling up the motor.”
HOW DID FROZEN URINE CLOG ORION’S VENT LINE?
The bigger toilet problem emerged in the early hours of Saturday, as day-three of the mission ended.
Artemis II Flight Director Judd Frieling told reporters that the spacecraft appeared to have developed a blockage in the toilet’s urine venting system.
“It’s an issue with dumping the waste out of the toilet,” Frieling said, according to CNN. “And so it appears to me that we probably have some frozen urine in the vent line.”
Nasa later confirmed in a Saturday press release that a wastewater vent line had clogged.
According to the BBC, Nasa engineers believed the vent line might have frozen, preventing urine from being expelled into space from the waste tank.
The Orion toilet is designed to separate urine from solid waste. Urine is vented outside the spacecraft, while faeces are compacted and stored for disposal after the crew returns to Earth.
HOW DID NASA TRY TO FIX THE PROBLEM?
To deal with the clog, mission controllers rotated the Orion spacecraft, so the vent line faced the Sun.
Nasa said the adjustment did not affect Orion’s path around the Moon. The sunlight partially thawed the frozen blockage and allowed some urine to be expelled from the tank.
Nasa also used heaters built into the vent system.
“Engineers have been using the vent heaters to melt any potential ice that may be clogging the line,” Nasa said in its Saturday update, according to the BBC.
The agency added that the wastewater tank was not full and that the toilet remained partly operational.
“The wastewater tank is not full and the toilet is operational; however, the crew was instructed to use backup collection devices overnight if needed,” Nasa said.
CNN reported that after the partial fix, mission control briefly informed the crew that the toilet was “go” but “for faecal use only”.
Efforts continued through Saturday until mission control finally informed the astronauts around midnight Eastern time that the toilet could once again be used normally.
“Breaking news,” mission control’s Jacki Mahaffey told the crew, “You are go for all types of use of the toilet”, CNN reported.
“And the crew rejoices!” Koch replied. “Thank you!”
WHAT BACKUP SYSTEM DID THE CREW USE?
While engineers worked to fix the clogged vent line on the Orion, the astronauts had to rely on a backup urine collection system. Nasa said the crew used collapsable plastic containers that collect urine.
The device is called the Collapsable Contingency Urinal, or CCU.
The backup method resembles the systems used during the Apollo era, when astronauts did not have dedicated space toilets.
Apollo astronauts often relied on bags to relieve themselves, though the system was unpopular because it created odour problems and was difficult to use.
WAS THERE ALSO A BURNING SMELL INSIDE ORION?
In addition to the frozen vent line, the crew also reported a strange smell coming from the toilet area.
According to the New York Post, citing Space.com, Koch radioed mission control on Saturday about a “burning heater smell” coming from the toilet.
“Regarding the smell, I just wanted to make sure you all were tracking the EGS notes of the kind of burning heater smell that was coming from the toilet several times,” Koch said.
She later added that the source of the smell had not been confirmed.
The smell was reportedly similar to the scent of an old electric heater being switched on after a long period of disuse.
According to the report, Nasa controllers initially suspected the odour may have been coming from orange insulation on the hygiene bay door.
Mission control told the crew there were no major concerns related to the smell, and the toilet remained safe to use.
While NASA acknowledged that waste management systems are difficult to operate in space, its administrator Jared Isaacman admitted the issue showed that even advanced space technology still has its limits.
Despite the setbacks with the toilet, Artemis II remains on track for its 10-day mission around the Moon.
