A smell reported by astronauts onboard Artemis II on their way to the moon came from the rocket’s toilets.
Christina Koch, one of four on the NASA mission, sounded the alarm after detecting a ‘kind of burning heater smell’ coming from the lavatory on several occasions.
Back on the ground, mission control suggested that the culprit could in fact be the insulation on the door to the toilet, referred to as a hygiene bay or the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS).
The onboard quartet did not think this was the cause, but have for now been cleared to continue using the lavatory.
It’s not the first glitch reported on the Orion’s waste management system.
Moments into the mission, a blinking fault light was reported in the toilet, amid concerns the fan had jammed.
That issue was later fixed by Ms Koch with the help of mission controllers in Houston.
Ms Koch, the self-described ‘space plumber’ on the craft, said the toilet was ‘probably the most important piece of equipment onboard’
She explained: ‘We were all breathing a sigh of relief when it turned out to be just fine. It was just an issue of sitting for a long time, needing a little time to warm up, a priming issue.’
The situation remains under evaluation, but mission controllers do not believe the issue to be of ‘major concern’.
Ms Koch is joined by Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover on the 10-day trip.
NASA has revealed that the Orion spacecraft is more than halfway to the moon, where it will perform a flyby of the natural satellite.
On Saturday afternoon, the crew members were amused to be woken up to the sound of Pink Pony Club by Chappell Roan.
So far, two ‘course corrections’ have been called off – brief engine burns to keep the capsule on the right track.
Instead, a check is being carried out of the capsule’s wastewater dumping system, after Orion was only able to dispose of three per cent of its wastewater last night.
Orion is equipped with a five-cubic-foot toilet specially designed for use in microgravity, housed under the floor close to the main hatch, hidden by a curtain.
The toilet flush is so loud that crew members need to wear ear protection to use it.
Solid waste is stored onboard in odour-controlled canisters, while pre-treated urine is disposed of overboard daily.
However, in the event the UWMS breaks down, the astronauts must resort to Collapsible Contingency Urinal bags which are thrown into space via designated chutes.
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