20120926

SPACE TOILET : HOW IT WORKS IN ZERO GRAVITY


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Toilet pump loaded aboard space shuttle

Cape Canaveral: After being rushed in from Russia, a toilet pump was loaded into space shuttle Discovery just in time for this weekend’s liftoff to the international space station, where the lone commode is acting up.
   A Nasa employee based in Moscow hand-carried the pump on a commercial flight that touched down on Wednesday. Within hours, the pump and related equipment were packed away aboard Discovery.
   While the three space station residents are eager to see the huge lab the main delivery item, the bathroom situation has become a more pressing issue. For the past week, the two Russian and one American men have had to periodically manually flush the urine side of the Russian-built toilet. AP