Astronauts Forced to Wear Diapers After SpaceX Capsule’s Toilet Damaged
The SpaceX astronauts, who were on a trip back to Earth, were forced to wear diapers after a toilet on the Dragon capsule of the company broke in advance of their journey from the International Space Station.
Broken Toilet Forces Astronauts to Wear Diapers
Based on the report, NASA astronaut Megan McArthur shared on Friday that their group would be taking a 20-hour trip home Sunday in suboptimal conditions that they needed to work.
According to NPR, four members on SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavor would be wearing diapers when they splash down in order to prevent splashing inside their suit too.
During the weekend press conference, McArthur confirmed that the toilets onboard Dragon Endeavor were broken, but they were prepared to manage.
McArthur shared that spaceflight was full of lots of little challenges; wearing diapers was only one of the more things that they would encounter while they took care of their mission. The NASA astronaut said that they were not too worried about the damage.
SpaceX Capsule's Space Missions
The report of the Associated Press mentioned that the toilet leak was first noted in September. The damage was caused by an unglued tube, which resulted in spilled urine beneath the floorboards of the SpaceX capsule.
A capsule awaiting liftoff was fixed, while another capsule's toilet was determined to be not usable.
However, engineers stated that the damage was not alarming. They consider the trip home as safe. The engineers also clarified that the urine would not have an impact, and NASA astronauts would only have to wear absorbent undergarments.
Moreover, the crew for this mission, known as Crew-2, has been at the International Space Station since April. The Crew-2 have already spent almost 200 days in space. Expedition commander and French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, in a press conference over the weekend, said they have encountered a very intense mission, a lot of things have happened.
Pesquet added that over the mission, they conducted a series of spacewalks during the installation of solar panels to upgrade the power grid station.
The astronauts also grew the first chili peppers, which McArthur considered a nice morale boost, especially that they got to sample in tacos. McArthur said that the space-grown chili peppers had a nice spiciness to them and a little bit of a lingering burn.
Also, Crew-2 hosted a private Russian film crew.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, and Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshides would be coming back home with McArthur.
The SpaceX capsule is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station on Monday afternoon and return Monday night. However, all of the scheduled activities would be dependent on the weather.
Their replacements are reportedly being sent up Wednesday night.
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This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Jess Smith
WATCH: Broken Toilet Forces Astronauts To Wear Diapers -TODAY
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