Artemis II is going so well that we’re left to talk about frozen urine

"I think the fixation on the toilet is kind of human nature."

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[gstovall]

I saw what you did. Thanks for the chuckle!

 

[iambrandon221]

“a wee problem like this seems like a big win”

Best space journalist there is good sir

 

[Zapfenzieher]

Go, Artemis, go!

Oh, wait ...

 

[garty]

This is what happens when you don’t take the piss.

 

[Person_Man]

“a wee problem like this seems like a big win”

Best space journalist there is good sir

I'm guessing Dr. Mole was consulted for this article.

 

[RickRoyLeonPrisZhoraRacha]

You're in, you're out!
(Note to engineers, a waste tank heater...not alot... hot piss and hot shit are not what they need!)

 

[ZenBeam]

If the toilet breaks on the way to Mars, there is a non-zero chance the crew is dying.

Maybe they should have more than one toilet for the trip to Mars...

 

[F12]

I'd hope the mission to mars could afford a spare toilet.

 

[OldTechGuy]

As a kid I used to travel in a small travel trailer on vacation. The tank attached to the toilet was very important, that damn dryer hose with evil blue stuff in it even more so! Orion seems a very cool Space Winnebago!

 

[Lexus Lunar Lorry]

Maybe they should have more than one toilet for the trip to Mars...

Is it worse to have just one toilet or just one coffee machine?

 

[FSTargetDrone]

Just think of what we might have seen:

 

[FSTargetDrone]

Is it worse to have just one toilet or just one coffee machine?

Yes.

 

[Mechjaz]

At least they aren’t having to pee in bottles … yet.

If my parents were flying, though, you bet your ass they would. "We just stopped three days ago and you have to go again? We aren't stopping! Figure it out."

 

[6GT5sGlow]

“I think the fixation on the toilet is kind of human nature,” he said.

This trait tends to increase as one ages...

 

[whoisit]

 

[DistinctivelyCanuck]

I don't understand why some efficiency expert hasn't combined both appliances. Just be careful with the plumbing.

On a more serious note... why not put astronauts on a low residue (no poop) diet? 10 days isn't that long.

Go ahead and try it: The resulting gastro issues are (to be careful in phrasing) Challenging.

 

[jonbob_newcastle]

I don't understand why some efficiency expert hasn't combined both appliances. Just be careful with the plumbing.

They did, but they could only produce something not entirely dissimilar to Dutch lager. Still, at least the solid waste is good for fattening up space weevils.

Spoiler: Ed: Explainer

 

[brendanc]

One can get away with “roughing it” when using the bathroom during trips to the Moon. Going to Mars, requiring months in space, is a different matter. If the toilet breaks on the way to Mars, there is a non-zero chance the crew is dying. So it’s great to try out these systems now, on Orion. This really is the purpose of this test flight, to make sure life support systems work for the crew, to identify problems, and to implement fixes in the future.

But I've been assured that the Moon is not a useful stepping stone to Mars!

 

[Nora Lenderbee]

Things like this are exactly what a shakedown cruise is all about. Identify problem areas and let the engineers get them fixed for the next flight.

I vaguely recall a similar problem on perhaps a Gemini or Apollo mission, and a photo of a yellow tinted icicle sticking out from the dump tube on the side of the capsule.

 

[aleph_nought]

Manual piloting and some yaw control issues?

 

[atfphotography]

Oh c’mon just open the window!

 

[Barleyman]

Things like this are exactly what a shakedown cruise is all about. Identify problem areas and let the engineers get them fixed for the next flight.

I vaguely recall a similar problem on perhaps a Gemini or Apollo mission, and a photo of a yellow tinted icicle sticking out from the dump tube on the side of the capsule.

That's just it. It's not a shakedown cruise, they went full fat around the moon. They're doing LEO testing after this, so lets hope a frozen toilet is the biggest thing on this test flight.

 

[Asbestos Muffins]

lets not kid ourselves that anyone is going to mars in the orion capsule. something bigger like the size of a couple ISS modules will be required

 

[1972foreva]

But what's the status of the backup water in contingency urine bags?

 

[Asbestos Muffins]

That's just it. It's not a shakedown cruise, they went full fat around the moon. They're doing LEO testing after this, so lets hope a frozen toilet is the biggest thing on this test flight.

ya if nasa wasn't so strapped for funding they would have launched a full duration mission around the earth like we did with apollo 9

 

[xoid]

I can't help but wonder if they have to use a bag to collect #1 when doing #2, since it is rare to do two, without the one.

 

[r0twhylr]

Things like this are exactly what a shakedown cruise is all about. Identify problem areas and let the engineers get them fixed for the next flight.

I vaguely recall a similar problem on perhaps a Gemini or Apollo mission, and a photo of a yellow tinted icicle sticking out from the dump tube on the side of the capsule.

IIRC, there were toilet-related problems on STS with frozen urine dumps attached to the outside of the vehicle.

 

[randomuser42]

ya if nasa wasn't so strapped for funding they would have launched a full duration mission around the earth like we did with apollo 9

That's Artemis 3. Artemis 2 is Apollo 7 and 8, 3 is 9, and I guess 4 will be 10 and 11, in theory.

 

[Nora Lenderbee]

That's just it. It's not a shakedown cruise, they went full fat around the moon. They're doing LEO testing after this, so lets hope a frozen toilet is the biggest thing on this test flight.

The term "shakedown cruise" doesn't necessarily mean that operations are limited in scope or duration. It's a nautical term, but it fits the Artemis 2 mission quite well.

Here's a snippet from Wikipedia about shakedown cruises.

"The USS Triton, a nuclear-powered radar picket submarine, was the first vessel to execute a submerged circumnavigation of Earth while on its shakedown cruise in early 1960. Triton is the only U.S. Navy ship to receive a Presidential Unit Citation for its shakedown cruise."

 

[Insomnomaniac]

"Hey, at least I'm capsule-broken!"

 

[BadSuperblock]

Well, if that’s the worst problem on a mission of this duration and scale, I’d say…urine luck.

 

[MST2.021K]

Given that the crew is reporting a "burning smell", what are the odds something to warm up the liquid got wired up right, but installed backwards?

 

[Redshirt]

Have they consulted with Australia? They know how to take the piss out of anything.

 

[HungaryMan7]

ya if nasa wasn't so strapped for funding they would have launched a full duration mission around the earth like we did with apollo 9

It’s not that NASA didn’t spend enough, it’s that they let their contractors under deliver. If the contractors had spent less time and money on “development” some of those unused resources could have been spent on said additional (safer) testing in Earth orbit.

 

[whoisit]

Have they consulted with Australia? They know how to take the piss out of anything.

And then resell it as Foster's.

 

[Starlionblue]

Well, if that’s the worst problem on a mission of this duration and scale, I’d say…urine luck.

That was beautiful. Bravo!

 

[sd70mac]

Maybe they should have more than one toilet for the trip to Mars...

Yes, I recently heard about for the navy that you need three ships to have one operational at all times, (one spare and one being worked on in addition to the one in use), so doing something similar with toilets would be prudent.