SpaceX fixed the toilet on the capsule awaiting liftoff, but deemed the one in orbit unusable.Įngineers determined that the capsule had not been structurally compromised by the urine and was safe for the ride back. The problem was first noted during SpaceX’s private flight in September, when a tube came unglued and spilled urine beneath the floorboards. They also had to deal with the toilet leak, pulling up panels in their SpaceX capsule and discovering pools of urine. The astronauts conducted a series of spacewalks to upgrade the station’s power grid, endured inadvertent thruster firings by docked Russian vehicles that sent the station into brief spins, and hosted a private Russian film crew - a space station first. SpaceX is now targeting liftoff for Wednesday night at the earliest.įrench astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who will return with McArthur, told reporters that the past six months have been intense up there. That SpaceX launch already had been delayed more than a week by bad weather and an undisclosed medical issue involving one of the crew. So we’re not too worried about it.”Īfter a series of meetings Friday, mission managers decided to bring McArthur and the rest of her crew home before launching their replacements. “This is just one more that we’ll encounter and take care of in our mission. “Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges,” she said during a news conference from orbit. She and her three crewmates will spend 20 hours in their SpaceX capsule, from the time the hatches are closed until Monday morning’s planned splashdown.
NASA astronaut Megan McArthur described the situation Friday as “suboptimal” but manageable. (AP) - The astronauts who will depart the International Space Station on Sunday will be stuck using diapers on the way home because of their capsule’s broken toilet.
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