Kamar kecil pesawat luar angkasa Artemis 2 mengalami kerusakan, empat astronot terpaksa mengenakan popok “sekali pakai” dan kembali ke Bumi

Phoenix.com Technology, April 7, according to a report by the British Daily Mail, NASA’s Artemis II lunar flyby mission encountered an equipment malfunction on the return trip; the ship’s toilet again went out of action, leaving four astronauts facing a problem with handling waste for the remainder of the journey. At present, the mission has entered its 6th day of a 10-day schedule.

Including four crew members such as Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and the Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, the crew at this stage has to switch to a CCU (foldable emergency urine collection) system similar to diapers. This plastic bag-like device was developed specifically for this mission; it uses capillary action from internal hydrophilic blades to channel urine to the bottom, and connects to the spacecraft’s system to discharge into space.

NASA’s official response states that, at present, the astronauts can still use the malfunctioning toilet to process solid waste, but the issue with wastewater treatment is still under investigation and assessment. If the system completely shuts down, the crew will have to return to using sealed waste collection bags similar to those used during Apollo missions, and store them inside the cabin to take back to Earth.

Toilet model aboard the lunar flyby spacecraft

Since the launch on April 1, this toilet system upgraded based on the International Space Station version has repeatedly shown anomalies. Previously, there were controller and fan failures affecting urine collection, as well as freezing in the urine discharge pipeline; the latter even forced NASA to adjust the spacecraft’s attitude to use solar radiation to melt the ice. The lunar flyby spacecraft is expected to splash down on April 10 in Pacific waters off the coast of Southern California. It is currently unclear whether this toilet malfunction can be thoroughly repaired before splashdown.

(Editor: Wang Zhiqiang HF013)

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