International Space Station's commode gets fixed
By Darren Murph 
posted May 28th 2008 5:06PM
posted May 28th 2008 5:06PM
It's amazing how quickly humans can remedy problems when really placed in a bind, and rather than waiting for supplies to come up with Discovery next week, crew members aboard the International Space Station were able to solve their little dilemma already. Reportedly, cosmonauts were able to cure whatever was ailing the temporarily non-functioning john, enabling those stuck in space to urinate freely. Thankfully, the seven-year old toilet is due to be replaced with a fresh new one this Fall, and we'd say the replacement couldn't arrive soon enough.
Crisis Averted!
..but can it play?
Last time I checked toilets couldn't play video games.
I still want to see the Space Plumber!
Another press release stated that "the problem was due to a stubborn Klingon."
Don't blame the Klingons... It was all because of those Romulans!!!
What happens when they flush?
Does it just shoot the poop at the sun?
NASA, being quite resourceful, has the waste material filtered to the crew's espresso machine.
So its just like having starbucks here on earth then huh.... thats a nice thing they do for them : \
Lemme guess, its some sort of *bucks branded stuff... you really couldn't tell the difference anyways then. ;)
The problem was solved by flooding the toilet with neutrinos, creating a mini wormhole which sent the dark matter to the other side of the galaxy.
The reason the toilet was broken was probably that the cash register on the other end ran out of tape.
I doubt if it shoots it at the sun, but it might shoot it at Russia. In Communist Russia, poop shoots you!
That's strange, my recent comment doesn't seem to either show my avatar or link to my Engadget profile...
I believe its actually branded as Starbutts™.
rats... Scott you beat me by a minute on that one. :(
there are still a lot of bad poo shooting coffee making jokes left to be had : )
Who was the last one to use the toilet, did they say?
Mister Chief was!!!
Or maybe it was Frank O'Connor...
@Fred:
...
Dangit... forgot the reply button
Sweet, looks like Number One can do Number Two again!
"Who does Number Two work for?" "That's right boy, show that turd who's boss!"
In space, no one can hear your stream...
The new one will seriously include a new technology that re purifies their urine into drinking water...it cost like $18 million.
(gross?)
Gross, yes... but you're dealing with people who are already cool with strapping themselves on rockets.
What do you think happens to your flushed urine on earth? It gets purified into drinking water...
Normally, my drinking water gets filtered into urine.
"This! Is how! We fix problem! On Russian! Space! Station!"
Zero gravity + toilet != good thing.
'Nuff said.
I am reminded on the scene in "Christmas Vacation" where cousin Eddy proclaims, "Shitter's full!"
Don't underestimate the importance of a good plumber or just how much they depend upon your business.. Your poo and pee is their bread and butter.
I wonder if one of the cosmo/astronauts pulled the backside of his/her pants down a bit to create a good old plumber's crack / carpenter's cleavage.
Now this is good news coverage and just another reason why I luuuuuuv the engadget.
How in the fuck do you shower and/or pee up there? There's no gravity - your pee would just float up right into your mouth and eyes or something; and same with the shower. I guess, you could use high pressure shower heads to shoot the water at you but like, where does it go? Air-vacuum drain system or something?
OOOOHhhh. i wonder if they have those mechanical cow-udder milker thingys for dudes to stick on their wangs when they have to go? But then what would they do for chicks? This is the sort of thing that will keep me up tonight.
http://library.thinkquest.org/C006247F/English/shuttle1.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=205480
http://space.about.com/cs/spaceshuttles/a/bathroominspace.htm
It is a very common question, but it has be worked on. On the space station they recycle their water and compress the solids to get sent back to Earth. On the space shuttle they release the liquid into space.
Fixed. Good job!!!
At least NASA wasn't just going through the motions.
Why don't they have two toliets up there anyway, it doesnt matter how many people are there if it can brake it needs a backup imagine if they were on the moon,mars or going to moon, mars what would they do if they couldnt fix the only toliet.
Mars, etc.
You forgot the obvious reference to the seventh planet in our solar system.
@ you.
+1 for the Armageddon reference
I laughed so hard when I heard Miles talk about this. What are they suppose to do till Saturday? What happensn if the shuttle gets delayed?
Wait till next month? Why so much money for a potty ? You know I have been depressed because of every thing in the news, But today I laughed. I gotta say you need Miles to report on more funny stuff like this. It just made my day. Thank You CNN. And Miles.
Considering that it Cost 18 million for the can, how much does it cost per flush?