Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – NASA astronauts encountered a new problem on their way back to Earth this month. Those who will be boarding the SpaceX yak capsule can use the toilet.
NASA officials said the four astronauts on the Crew-2 mission were barred from using the toilets on the ship. Because there is a possibility of urine leakage in the toilet which was previously seen on the civil flight Inspiration 4 last September, quoted by Space, Tuesday (2/11/2021).
Since that issue, SpaceX has redesigned the toilet. So that the same problem does not happen again in the future.
“Our goal was not to use the system at all on the return trip because of what we’ve seen with the fluids we talked about,” explains NASA commercial crew program manager Steve Stitch.
“We have other ways for crews to perform the functions they need.”
So NASA has a solution with ‘underwear’ in waste management that is used when astronauts are in spacesuits for launches, landings or spacewalks.
According to Stitch this solution is common for the crew to travel home. As well as adding has been a backup for every space flight.
“It’s common to use underwear and they use it on the way home,” he said.
The four people who came back to Earth were Shane Kimbrough and Meghan McArthur from NASA, Akihiko Hoshide who was an astronaut for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and an astronaut for the European Space Agency named Thomas Pesquet.
They blasted off from Earth in April. It is hoped that the four people will be able to return home on November 4, 2021.
However, it is likely to be delayed. Because SpaceX and NASA postponed the launch of the Crew-2 and CCrew-3 relief missions until Tuesday today due to bad weather. So the four of them will go home after handing over with the new crew that will come.
(roy/roy)
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