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Main Toilet On ISS Craps Out
The Narrative Fallacy writes "NASA has spent years getting ready for a crowd in space — adding additional sleeping quarters, learning how to recycle liquid waste into drinking water, and installing a second bathroom last year. But now the main toilet has broken down on the International Space Station while a record 13 astronauts are on board. For now Mission Control has advised the astronauts to hang an 'out of service' sign on the toilet as it may take days to repair. In the meantime, Endeavour's seven astronauts will be restricted to the shuttle bathroom. Last year a Russian cosmonaut complained that he was no longer allowed to use the US toilet because of billing and cost issues. Now the six space ISS residents will have to get in line to use the back-up toilet in the Russian part of the station. The pump separator on the malfunctioning toilet has apparently flooded, and ESA astronaut Frank De Winne is the guy tasked with putting his plumbing skills to work on short notice. 'We don't yet know the extent of the problem,' says flight director Brian Smith, adding that the toilet troubles were 'not going to be an issue' for now."
Well, now we know what hit Jupiter...
They can't use the shuttle toilet that much, since it has to dump waste water overboard periodically. They can't do this while docked.
It's all Howard Wolowitz's fault.
I'm waiting for Hollywood to make a movie about sending Joe the Plumber into space to prevent a Russian chocolate rain of terror raining down on the United States from the ISS. Starring Bruce Willis as Joe the Plumber.
Its a good thing their airlocks are still working. The problem is finding a bush to go behind...
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Well, in the Apollo days, urine was just dumped overboard. The service module's fuel cells made more then enough water as a byproduct of electrical production. Pretty much the same setup for the shuttle; in fact, the shuttle will typically offload extra water onto the station before departing. The station uses solar panels for electricity. Good news: no need to haul up liquid hydrogen and oxygen to supply electrical power. Bad news: no more free water source, especially once we discontinue the shuttle. Orion, Soyuz, Progress, ATV, and even SpaceX's Dragon all use solar power. This means we now need reclaim as much water from urine, rather then just dumping it, hence the toilet all of the sudden becomes a much more complex piece of equipment.
#include <signature.h>
"The main toilet, a multi-million-dollar Russian-built unit, was flown up and installed on the US side of the space station last year." -BBC
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sorry the NASA channel can't hold your attention like Starship Troopers, Doctor Who, or Jack Bauer killing space terrorists, but this is what space travel is about. it's expensive, dangerous, careful, and this time, really shitty.
We really have to give credit to NASA and the other space agencies for making manned space flight relatively safe. Compared to the early days such as the lead up to Mercury and landing on the moon, recent space flights have been safe and thus mundane. We did lose two shuttles but averaged over the total number of flights, it's a positive trend. I guess NASA is not failing spectacularly enough for some people. Toilet failure? That's just news for nerds and only nerds.
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Apparently the shit hit the fan a little bit too hard.
No sig today...
... but so far have nothing to go on.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
The very name 'back-up toilet' evokes bad images. Especially in space. You can't just call Space RotoRooter, you know, if the plumbing clogs. Hey wait. Is there such a thing as an astronaut-plumber specialty? And if so, does NASA issue a suit with a butt crack window? And when they finish unclogging, are they flushed with pride at the accomplishment? Space can be tough; I cannot recall Darth Vader ever going to the bathroom, which may explain his terrible temperament. I'd go over to the Dark Side too, if I'd been constipated for 6 whole movies. No wonder they called it the Death Star, if it lacked toilets.
Waitwaitwait, that's Russian technology?
*groan* Oh c'mon, where's the problem. Kick it a few times and it works again.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Feeling lucky on google with cryptosporidium outbreak:
in 1993 .... This abnormal condition at the plant lasted from March 23 through April 8, after which, the plant was shut down. Over the span of approximately two weeks, 403,000 of an estimated 1.61 million residents in the Milwaukee area (of which 880,000 were served by the malfunctioning treatment plant) became ill with the stomach cramps, fever, diarrhea and dehydration caused by the pathogen. Over 100 deaths were attributed to this outbreak,
From tfa: The main toilet, a multi-million-dollar Russian-built unit, was flown up and installed on the US side of the space station last year.
First off, it was a private US company that developed the pressurized ballpoint pen. They donated a few samples to NASA long before the space shuttle flew just so they could call it the "space pen". The US space program never paid a penny for it.
Secondly, what do you think happens when you write with a pencil in free fall? Where does all of that highly conductive graphite dust go? What about a broken tip? Does it know what could happen when it works its way into all those control panels full of exposed electrical switches? In an atmosphere which was still over 60% oxygen?
It's not good. What the Soviets used was a _grease_ pencil, and even they switched to the Fisher Space Pen when it became available.