Posted on 07/15/2011 5:25:32 AM PDT by Libloather
Space Toilet Gives Astronauts Smelly Time in Orbit
The downside to zero gravity: a lot of maintenance for waste disposal
By Denise Chow and SPACE.com | July 14, 2011
HOUSTON — Even soaring high above Earth on a high-tech space station doesn't excuse astronauts from the most mundane household chores … especially when you're dealing with a smelly space toilet.
The 10 astronauts on the International Space Station today (July 13) tackled the daunting chore of unpacking tons of supplies delivered by NASA's shuttle Atlantis this week. But one station crewmember, NASA astronaut Ron Garan, had a more pressing duty: fixing the space station's zero gravity potty.
Earlier this week, the station crew reported a foul odor coming from one of the orbiting lab's toilets. After some tinkering, the astronauts and Mission Control began to suspect that air bubbles had clogged up some of the $90 million orbital commode's delicate plumbing. [Space Toilet Technique: NASA's How-To Video]
(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...
Just jiggle the handle.
A new look at the term: “something stinks to high heaven.”
Astronauts: Theirs stinks, too.
Lol! Good one!
What a crappy situation.
Talk about floaters!
BUMP
After docking, the two crews prepared a special feast..Russkis served borscht, the Americans chili...gawd....
Sure hope the crew didn’t get into the freeze dried chili.
What we need is more lectures by the head of NASA about the positive contributions of Islam to the space program. Who needs working toilets when you can be reshaping society?
What’s needed here is a-
.
.
.
“Snake on a (Space) Plane”
Apparently not.
And just as apparently, going with the lowest-bidder's
"Algor-Laurie David-Sheryl Crow" model was also not the way to go.
One of the astronauts should have been smart enough to chip in the
extra dollar and go with the next lowest bidder...
This is why folks are against the space program. It is not space exploration we are against, it is 90 million dollar toilets, 2 million dollar hammers, etc.
Like the story years ago, no idea if it is true, that we spent millions to develop a pen to write in space... the soviets just gave their astronauts pencils.
I doubt that Russia has a 90 million dollar space toilet on their station. If if that is the reported price, you know it is twice that in reality, plus the design cost of another 15 million, and a 20 million dollar procurement fee.
Just saying. I’m all for space travel, but we as Americans sure do pay a premium price, and for all of the innovations that have come from space, it seems the Japanese and Chinese have benefited the most from our advancements.
But, hey, what do I know, I’m just your average taxpayer, I’m sure the NASA types will point out to me how wrong I have it.
Thanks Libloather. Always a good idea to take along a wet vac.
Not true. The "Space Pen" was a private endeavor.
NASA provisioned mech pencils, but everything was supposed be
US-built, and the Japanese were making the best, most suited
to the application, that is, lower chance of lead breaking and
causing a potential inhalation hazard in micro gravity.
As such, NASA didn't "highlight" the Japanese pencils on the
missions for fear of some congress-critter insisting that
less-than-suitable US-made pencils be used.
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