Space Station toilet stops working. The **** hits the fan.

[Mike]

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/27/space.toilet.ap/index.html

[Rick]

The Russian ASU (Ассенизационно-Санитарная Установка, or "Waste Management System") aboard the ISS has pretty well clapped out following the failure on 21 May of the unit's air/water separator heralded by a "loud noise", according to NASA.

The agency explained last week: "The crew then replaced the separator with a spare unit but reported afterwards that the ASU lacked suction. The crew next replaced the F-V filter insert, which provided good suction for a while but again exhibited weak suction. TsUP/Moscow instructed the crew to deactivate the ASU and use the toilet facility in the Soyuz spacecraft."

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/28/iss_asu_failure/

NASA: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/iss_reports/reports2008/05-21-2008.htm

[Rick]

Relief is at hand for the cross-legged ISS crew in the form of spares for the clapped-out Russian ASU toilet, which have been stowed aboard Space Shuttle Discovery due to blast off tomorrow.

The parts, including a pump, will hopefully allow astronauts to take a bother-free leak. While the ISS's main toilet still works for solid waste, it requires "additional steps for liquid waste" and needs ten minutes maintenance by two crew members after three flushes, according to NASA.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/30/iss_toilet_spares/

[Rick]

No comment: http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20080601

[Carole]

Without meaning to sound too disgusting.  Does any-one know how exactly a space loo works?

a) Does it get ejected out into space?
b) Sent back to Earth at a later date?
c) Incinerated some-how?
d) Re-cycled?

I have a bad feeling it is a). 
In which case there is a lot of unmentionable space debris floating around out there in addition to the mentionable (craft debris etc).

Luckily space is a big place!!!

Carole

Carole

[Rick]

Low Earth Orbit is too crowded for them to just dump stuff into space these days, though they did in the early days. I suspect all the other options do get used though, assuming you can call "burned up on re-entry" a form of incineration.

[Ian]

The ATV is supposed to be filled with rubbish before it's jettisoned, and it will burn up. I would expect that water is recovered beforehand, seeing as it's important and would been to be flown up there.

I would think a lone turd would take too long to de-orbit...

[Rick]

Yeah, they use the cargo craft as rubbisb bins for dumping stuff they're happy to see burn up on re-entry. Aside from the odd golf ball and paper plane I don't think they've thrown anything small overboard deliberately in quite a while. Accidentally, on the other hand...

When we visited UKC a while back and saw bits of LDEF there, I remember being told that some of the impacts on LDEF were of frozen drops of urine. When it's moving at a relative speed of several thousand miles an hour it doesn't really matter all that much what it's made of.

[mickw]

I thought they recycled urine by treating it then using it for drinking or for washing etc. 

[Rick]

I thought they recycled urine by treating it then using it for drinking or for washing etc.

Yes, I expect they do. It's expensive getting stuff up to ISS so the stuff they dump must be stuff they really can't use any more! 

[Rick]

The International Space Station's troublesome toilet is now sucking like a good 'un after Oleg Kononenko yesterday fitted the new pump delivered by Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/05/iss_toilet_fixed/

Space station crew repair toilet

Crew members have fixed a toilet at the International Space Station with a pump delivered by the shuttle Discovery.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7436975.stm

[Fay]

The mind boggles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mike]

Apparently if you use it when not 'going to the toilet' it doubles up as a sex toy.

[Ian]

euchhh 

but then it's a Russian toilet...

[Fay]

Hope they do not all come back as eunuchs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!