SPACE WASTE

NASA Reveals What Happens When Its Space Toilet Doesn’t Work

Houston, we have a problem… with the space bathroom.

NASA has released an informative new video that answers two critical questions: How did the Artemis II astronauts on the Orion spacecraft use the toilet on their history-making trip around the moon? And what happens if there’s a technical glitch with their space bathroom? The video begins with a command saying, “You are no go for toilets, we’d like you to use CCUs overnight.” CCU stands for Collapsible Contingency Urinals. The video shows that there are differently designed male and female CCUs that each hold around a liter of urine. They are used as a “backup” for when the toilet is “backed up.” The space toilet on Orion is the Universal Waste Management System, a system Apollo crews did not have, which contains a tank where urine is stored and then “vented overboard” each day by the crew. However, the system can malfunction, with Artemis II’s Entry Flight Director Rick Henfling explaining, “It’s a pretty complex engineering issue when you expose a liquid to vacuum… it’s a pretty chaotic environment. This is a good opportunity to learn now on a shorter mission… before Artemis III.” In the case of a malfunction of the UWMS, the crew still use the toilet for solid collection, only without the fan that helps with fecal separation. The solid waste is collected in a can and stowed safely for disposal on return to Earth. Astronaut Christina Koch said of the UWMS, “I like to say it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board.” The toilets are situated in the aircraft’s hygiene bay.

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