Gee whiz! International space station experiences latrine problems

In news from Cape Canaveral, a Russian toilet pump was ferried from Moscow by an American NASA employee to the U.S. just in time for this weekend's liftoff to the international space station, where the lone toilet is on the fritz. [Ed's note: I have to admit, the space station is cool. I like the idea that there are always a couple of Americans Out There.

Saturday's big ticket delivery is a 37-foot-long Japanese lab, the longest module/room in the growing installed at the space station. But that kaybo pump is critical too.


The latrine situation on the space station has beconme urgent. The two Russians and one American have to periodically manually flush the Russian-built toilet, which takes 10 minutes and requires two people.



Click image to enlarge. A road crew in Washington state collected these jugs of
urine. In one year, a single, small county in the state collected 2,666 jugs.

On the other hand, if it comes to that, couldn't the astro- and cosmo-nauts take a cue from American truckers? My state (Washington) has launched a Jihad on trucker "urine bombs." See the Washington State PSA and photograph, above.
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