How Artemis II astronauts will poop in space as crew make horrifying discovery within minutes of mission
History has just been made as NASA's first manned moon mission in more than 50 years, which will take astronauts deeper into space than any human has gone before, has blasted off.
The 322-foot rocket, carrying four crew members, successfully launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 6.36 pm local time (11.36 pm BST).
The four astronauts, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, reached orbit ahead of circling the Earth for about 25 hours before catapulting towards the moon.
The team had entered the capsule several hours earlier, where they would remain for the next 10 days with about as much room as a small camper van.
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It's a pretty big deal given that the last time NASA sent astronauts to the Moon was as part of the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
The Artemis II mission paves the way for a future lunar landing and also lays the foundation to send a crew to Mars.
And while that's all very exciting, many people have been left wondering how the crew will poop in space, after they made a pretty shocking discovery within just minutes of the mission launch.
Before we get into that, however, it's important to note that when astronauts first made their way to the moon back in the 1970s, they did so without a toilet.
According to Scientific American, they strapped plastic bags directly to their bodies using adhesive rims, did what they had to do, then sealed the bag and kneaded in a germ-killing chemical by hand.
Urine, meanwhile, went through funnels and tubes.
Understandably, the system wasn't ideal.
A NASA report released after the end of the Apollo missions acknowledged the sub-par situation, noting that waste disposal 'must be given poor marks' when it comes to crew satisfaction.
Artemis II, however, is a totally different story as it carries a proper toilet, the Universal Waste Management System.
It has handholds to stay put, works for both urine and faeces at the same time, and is designed for all crew members rather than adapting around them.
There’s even a door, which is more about dignity than necessity in a tiny capsule, but we're sure it's a welcome addition!
But what went down with the toilet during yesterday's (1 April) historic launch?
Shortly after launching, the space agency confirmed that there was an issue with the toilet on the Orion spacecraft, after the crew inspected it and identified that something wasn't quite right.
The crew noticed that the toilet's amber warning light was flashing, with mission control saying they would need some time to figure out how to fix it.
According to Astronomy, the toilet was actually out of commission for the entire first six hours of the flight.
NASA associate administrator Amit Kshatriya confirmed at a press conference that the issue was due to a malfunctioning controller, which is a part of the toilet’s control system.
This apparently meant that, while the astronauts could still do a number two in the toilet, they couldn’t pee in it.
Thankfully, the issue was eventually fixed, thanks to the help from Koch and controllers on the ground working together.
The mission specialist reportedly moved parts from the toilet while being radioed from Houston, while those on the ground monitored the toilet’s systems and took remote troubleshooting measures.
Mission control said in an update: "Happy to report that the toilet is go for use. We do recommend letting the system get to operating speed before donating fluid."
Tyla has reached out to NASA for comment.
Topics: Space, Nasa, US News, Explained, World News, Science
Rhiannon Ingle