US Artemis II’s moon trip faces challenging toilet mission again over flushing

Artemis II astronauts (from left) Reid Wiseman, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch and Victor Glover gather for an interview en route to the moon on Saturday.

Photo: Nasa via AP Now more than halfway to the moon, the Artemis II astronauts prepared for their historic lunar fly-around to push deeper into space than even the Apollo astronauts.

On the downside, their toilet is on the blink again.

The three Americans and one Canadian are set to reach their destination Monday, photographing the mysterious lunar far side as they zoom around.

It is the first moon-bound crew in more than 53 years, picking up where Nasa’s Apollo programme left off. “The Earth is quite small, and the moon is definitely getting bigger,” pilot Victor Glover reported.

Until the Orion capsule’s bathroom is fixed, Mission Control has instructed the astronauts to break out more of the backup urine collection bags.

The so-called lunar loo malfunctioned following Wednesday’s lift-off and has been hit-and-miss ever since.

A version of the Artemis II toilet was tested on the International Space Station several years ago.

Engineers suspect ice may be blocking the line that is preventing urine from completely flushing overboard.

The toilet is still open for No 2 business.

Debbie Korth, Nasa’s Orion programme deputy manager, said the astronauts had also reported a smell coming from the bathroom, which is buried in the floor of the capsule with a door and curtain for privacy.

The exterior of the Orion spacecraft Integrity during the Artemis II mission en route to the moon.

Photo: Nasa via AP “Space toilets and bathrooms are something everybody can really understand … it’s always a challenge,” she said, noting that the space shuttle toilet was also often on the fritz.

John Honeycutt, chair of the mission management team, said it was human nature to be interested in the space commode, and even though it is “in a good state right now”, he would like it to be working at 100 per cent. “They’re OK,” he said of the astronauts. “They trained to manage through the situation.” Artemis II is poised to set a distance record for humans, travelling more than 252,000 miles (400,000km) from Earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon and heading home without stopping or entering lunar orbit.

The record is currently held by Apollo 13.

The Canadian Space Agency celebrated the country’s role in the mission, speaking from Quebec with astronaut Jeremy Hansen as he headed towards his lunar rendezvous.

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