SpaceX’s Dragon space toilet is off limits for astronauts returning to Earth soon-
Crew-2 astronauts will have to use an “undergarment” for potty breaks, NASA says.
The following written content by Tariq Malik
Crew-2 astronauts will have to use an “undergarment” for potty breaks, NASA says.
The next astronauts to return to Earth on a SpaceX Dragon won’t be able use a crucial system on their trip home next month: the space potty.
SpaceX’s toilet on its Crew Dragon Endeavour will be off limits for the four Crew-2 mission astronauts once they leave the International Space Station in early November, NASA officials said late Friday (Oct. 29). That’s because of a possible urine leak in the toilet like one seen on SpaceX’s all-civilian Inspiration4 flight in September. SpaceX has since redesigned its toilet to avoid leaks on future flights.
“Our intent is to not use the system at all for the return leg home because of what we’ve seen with the fluids we are talking about,” Steve Stitch, NASA’s Commercial Crew program manager, told reporters Friday in a prelaunch briefing for SpaceX’s Crew-3 astronaut launch, now set for next week. “We have other means to allow the crew to perform the functions they need.”
Those other means? An “undergarment” for waste management that astronauts have long used to relieve themselves when clad in spacesuits for launches, landings or spacewalks.
“Anytime the crew is suited they use an undergarment in that suit, and it’s a short mission coming home,” Steve Stitch said. “So, it’s pretty typical to have an undergarment on and they can use that on the way home.” It’s been a backup for any spaceflight, he added.
The astronauts returning to Earth on the Crew-2 mission are NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Meghan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency. They launched to the station in April were expected to return home on Nov. 4 with a splashdown off the Florida coast, NASA officials said late Friday. Read more from Space.
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