Space station toilet broken, fix might take a while

Published 10:54 pm Tuesday, May 27, 2008

WASHINGTON — The international space station’s lone toilet is broken, leaving the crew with almost nowhere to go. So NASA may order an in-orbit plumbing service call when space shuttle Discovery visits next week.

Until then, the three-man crew will have to make do with a jury-rigged system when they need to urinate.

While one of the crew was using the Russian-made toilet last week, the toilet motor fan stopped working, according to NASA. Since then, the liquid waste gathering part of the toilet has been working on and off. Fortunately, the solid waste collecting part is functioning normally.

The crew has used the toilet on the Soyuz return capsule, but it has a limited capacity. They are now are using a back-up baglike collection system that can be connected to the broken toilet, according to NASA public affairs officials.

“Like any home anywhere the importance of having a working bathroom is obvious,” NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said.

Discovery is already set for launch Saturday with a planned docking with the space station on Monday.