Persistent problems with Artemis II’s $23 million toilet

The Artemis II mission took place relatively peacefully with very few problems causing the four-person crew to feel worried or uncomfortable, except for problems with the Orion’s toilet.

Early in the morning of April 4, Orion had trouble with the waste treatment system. “The problem occurred in the process of removing waste from the toilet. It seems that urine has frozen in the drainage pipe,” said Judd Frieling, ground commander of the Artemis II mission.

By noon on April 4, the Orion ship was nearly 320,000 km from Earth. All four astronauts slept soundly while ground engineers tried to fix the problem.

On the afternoon of April 4, the beginning of the fourth day of the journey, the ground engineering team outlined an action plan, which was to rotate the ship’s compartment to direct the drainage pipe toward the Sun, helping the urine inside warm up and melt. This option seems to have helped partially clear the pipe. The flight commander then announced that the toilet “can be used, but can only be used for solid waste”.

Remediation efforts continued throughout April 4, but blockages still hindered the processing system. Only at midnight did the ground command team make the announcement that many people were waiting for.

“Breaking news. You can use the restroom for all necessary needs,” said Jacki Mahaffey, who is in charge of communications with Artemis II.

“The crew is very happy. Thank you,” astronaut Christina Koch responded.

Frozen drains weren’t the only problem with toilets on the Artemis II mission. Not long after the Orion spacecraft left the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the afternoon of April 1, astronauts discovered that the pumping system in the toilet had stopped working. This is a very important part, responsible for sucking waste from the astronauts’ bodies, because the zero gravity in space prevents them from being able to handle their needs like on the ground.

The fix is ​​relatively simple, because the flight crew members did not pump enough water to activate the pump. After filling with water, the device worked normally. “I can proudly call myself a space plumber. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the problem was fixed. We initially thought something had damaged the pump motor,” Koch recounted.

Top important equipment

Called the Rooftop Waste Management System, the toilet on the Orion ship cost up to 23 million USD to build. NASA said it took 6 years to create the 3D printed titanium “throne” for astronauts.

“I would say it’s the most important piece of equipment on board,” Koch said.

When the toilet malfunctioned, the Artemis II flight crew had to use a method created during space flights in the mid-20th century, when spacecraft had not yet been equipped with this convenient equipment. Everyone has to switch to using plastic bags to contain waste.

This process is not always smooth. Declassified US government documents show that during the Apollo 10 mission in 1969, astronaut Thomas Stafford reported “a piece of solid waste floating in the spacecraft compartment”.

“Give me a tissue, quick,” Stafford said in the flight recording. A few minutes later, teammate Eugene Cernan exclaimed “yet another block”.

Astronauts expressed dissatisfaction with this method.

“The bag was only partially functional and was described as ‘annoying’ to the flight crew. The plastic bag could not help control the odor in the small cabin, making the smell very prominent,” NASA’s 2007 report said.