The Space Shuttle delivers a toilet to the International Space Station:
The grand drama of humankind’s conquest of space has featured as a recurring subplot the mystery of how people in zero gravity can possibly go to the bathroom. The latest twist in that narrative is about to take place high above Earth, where astronauts will deliver to the international space station a new toilet, officially known as the waste and hygiene compartment, plus a contraption that can recycle urine into drinkable water.
These and other upgrades were carried into orbit last night by the space shuttle Endeavour, carrying a crew of seven.
The new toilet will go into the American laboratory known as Destiny. The only toilet currently on the station is in the Russian lab. The second toilet, the wastewater recycling system, new sleeping quarters and a refrigerator are all part of what NASA is billing as “extreme home improvements” on the space station. The goal is to make the station habitable by as many as six astronauts at a time, double the current crew limi
Just as long as there isn’t a case of interstellar plumber’s crack.
