‘Space plumber’ to the rescue as Artemis astronauts navigate life aboard Orion

he Artemis II crew speak to Nasa Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon on Thursday.

Photo: Nasa/AP They are sipping smoothies, snapping phone pics, dealing with crashed email and fixing broken toilets: astronauts, they are just like us.

The four crew members zipping through space towards the moon are carrying out a mission unlike any before it, but they are also still muddling on through life’s mundanities – all while they float around together in a square footage equivalent to two minivans.

Mission specialist Christina Koch, the first woman to venture into deep space, said preparing for the 10-day journey was akin to planning for a camping trip. “It represents togetherness and something a little out of the ordinary,” she said in a video released by Nasa.

Orion wares include 58 tortillas, 43 cups of coffee, barbecued beef brisket and five types of hot sauce.

And one toilet … which had a problem.

It is the first time astronauts venturing into deep space have had a real toilet on board: the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s provided crew members with waste collection bags that were ultimately left on the lunar surface.

A partial view of Earth taken by Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from a window on the Orion spacecraft as it heads to the moon.

Photo: Nasa/dpa Much to the astronauts’ relief, Koch remedied the issue with the toilet aboard the Orion. “I’m proud to call myself the space plumber,” she said during a Q&A session late on Thursday with US media. “I like to say that it is probably the most important piece of equipment on board,” she said. “So we were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine.” The toilet is in a small cubicle that is quite loud; the astronauts need to wear ear protection when they use it.

But it was “the one place that we can go during the mission where we can actually feel like we’re alone for a moment”, Canadian Jeremy Hansen said during a demonstration video released by the Canadian Space Agency before blast-off.

The Artemis II astronauts also quickly encountered email trouble: mission commander Reid Wiseman said he was experiencing issues with Microsoft Outlook. “I also see that I have two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those is working,” he said on Nasa’s live stream.

Members of the Houston-headquartered Mission Control fixed the problem – where would we be without our IT experts?

The astronauts must adhere to a sleep routine to ensure they are rested fo

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