The Orion Integrity Capsule's Toilet on the Artemis II Mission Faces Another Issue

Astronauts on the Artemis II mission are now closer to the Moon than to Earth, and in about two days, they will perform a close flyby of the natural satellite. Everything seems to be proceeding almost normally. The translunar injection (TLI) maneuver was executed correctly, and there was no need for any subsequent correction (none of those planned have been executed). Being the first crewed mission for the Orion capsule, some issues have been encountered, such as communication problems during the early stages post-launch, an issue with Outlook, and with a GoPro Max.

Another issue that has gone "viral" is that of the toilet on the Artemis II mission spacecraft. As mentioned, this is the first crewed mission for Orion, and therefore this system was not tested in space during Artemis I. American astronaut Christina Koch managed to resolve the first problem that emerged shortly after launch in a very short time, later referring to herself as "a space plumber".

However, there appears to be a second problem with the Orion toilet. The system worked for some time, with astronauts venting the liquid waste (urine) into space. However, this may have caused the external drainage to freeze, according to reports from the mission control center. For this reason, the side where this opening is located was exposed to the Sun for about two hours in an attempt to thaw the liquid residues and restore the functioning of the Orion toilet (this change in orientation will not affect the timing of operations or the trajectory).

This kind of problem was already highlighted in the past during the Space Shuttle era, but in that case, the resolution involved using the robotic arm to remove the ice and restore service. Orion does not feature a robotic arm, and therefore another system needs to be found. While the Orion toilet resumes operation, if astronauts urgently need to relieve themselves (liquid), Collapsible Contingency Urinals (CCU) are available as a temporary solution.

"I'm the space plumber."
Astronaut Christina Koch was able to fix Orion's toilet after the crew reported an issue with it shortly after reaching orbit on Wednesday evening.