The next astronaut who returns to Earth with the Dragon SpaceX plane will not be able to use the important system on their way home, the space toilet. Why?
The SpaceX toilet on the Dragon Endeavor Crew was banned for four Crew-2 mission astronauts, once they left the International Space Station (ISS) in early November.
The ban had to be lifted due to the possibility of a urine leak in the toilet as detected on the Inspiration4 flight last September. SpaceX has since redesigned its toilets to avoid leaks on future flights.
"We ask not to use the toilet system at all on the way home based on what we have seen from previous flights," said Steve Stitch, Manager of NASA Commercial Crew.
Quoted from Space.com, the launch of the Crew-3 astronaut itself has been set to launch next week.
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"We have other ways to allow crews to do the activities they need," Stitch added.
Because they could not use the toilet, the crew used another method, namely by using special underwear. This waste management tool has long been used by astronauts to urinate while wearing outerwear while on duty.
The astronauts returning to Earth on the Crew-2 mission were Shane Kimbrough and Meghan McArthur of NASA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet. They launched to the ISS last April and are planned to return to Earth on November 4.
