The return trip of Crew 2 astronauts might not be the most pleasant as NASA revealed that the toilet system aboard their spacecraft Endeavour will be ‘off-limits’. The reason behind this inconvenience is the example of leakage caused in the waste management system of the spacecraft during SpaceX’s previous mission Inspiration4 that has made the team decide not to use the toilet at all. The Crew-2, consisting NASA’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency (ESA) is likely to make its splashdown in November. 

According to Space.com, Steve Stitch, NASA’s Commercial Crew program manager said in the Crew-3 briefing-

“Our intent is to not use the system at all for the return leg home because of what we’ve seen with the fluids we are talking about. We have other means to allow the crew to perform the functions they need.”

By other means, Stitch here meant an undergarment which the astronauts will have to use in case they have to relieve themselves. The undergarments are something that has been used by astronauts inside their spacesuits when they undergo launches, landings or long spacewalks. Stitch said that since ascending from the International Space Station (ISS) to the Earth will be a short journey, the diapers are the most practical backup.

Meanwhile, SpaceX has invested some effort in fixing the toilet issue for Crew-3 astronauts so as to avoid the same problem that Inspiration4 riders had to face. In the last Crew Dragon flight, a tube got unglued during SpaceX’s first private flight last month, pouring pee over fans and beneath the floor. As a long-term solution, SpaceX has welded on the urine-flushing tube inside the company’s newest capsule, Endurance, named by its US-German crew. 

Crew-3 delayed due to bad weather

NASA and SpaceX are now targeting Wednesday, November 3, for the agency’s Crew-3 launch to the ISS due to a large storm system meandering across the Ohio Valley and through the northeastern United States this weekend, elevating winds and waves in the Atlantic Ocean. The Endurance will be boarded by NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kyala Barron, as well as ESA astronaut Mathias Maurer.

(Image: Twitter/@SpaceX)