Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/05/iss_toilet_fixed/
ISS toilet sucks again
New pump brings relief
Posted in Science, 5th June 2008 09:49 GMT
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The International Space Station's troublesome toilet is now sucking like a good 'un after Oleg Kononenko yesterday fitted the new pump delivered [1] by Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124.
The Russian ASU (Ассенизационно-Санитарная Установка, or "Waste Management System") clapped out [2] last month, prompting a certain amount of discomfort for the ISS's three-man crew who were obliged to manually flush out the space dunny several times a day.
The ISS's toilet woes attracted plenty of media attention, with NASA forced to field press enquiries about the nuts-and-bolts of taking a zero-grav leak. Kirk Shireman, deputy space station program manager, said yesterday: "It's unfortunate we're talking about toilets, but that really is the life, that's the future of human exploration in space. I don't take it as a really bad thing. It's just something perhaps everyday people can really relate to."
Yesterday also saw the activation of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory [3] following installation of the experiment module by spacewalking mission specialists Mike Fossum and Ron Garan.
Crew opened the hatch at 21:05 GMT, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide floated inside with a welcome sign (see pic). He said in his best Americanese: "This is a great moment for the Japanese folks. It's been like 20 plus years to get this module up in space."
Fossum and Garan are preparing for a second spacewalk today to "outfit the new lab and prepare the Japanese logistics module for relocation".
You can find NASA's STS-124 mission summary here (pdf) [4]. ®