Artemis II team prepares for lunar orbit – and Orion’s space toilet

      Four astronauts are preparing to embark on a groundbreaking journey that will take them around the moon in a spacecraft roughly the size of a large camper van.

      During the Artemis II mission, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency, will spend 10 days inside the Orion capsule after being launched into space by the SLS rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, likely next week.

      Over the years, many astronauts have highlighted that the most frequently asked question is: “How do astronauts use the bathroom in microgravity?” This question is particularly relevant for the International Space Station (ISS), where crews typically stay for about six months before returning to Earth.

      However, there is also considerable interest in how the four Artemis II astronauts will manage their basic bodily needs while journeying farther from Earth than any human has since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

      To address this, Jeremy Hansen has created a video (above) focusing on that specific topic as he prepares for the eagerly awaited mission.

      First, the Canadian astronaut points out that Orion's bathroom is equipped with a door, providing a bit of privacy for astronauts as they attend to their needs.

      “We’re quite lucky … to have a toilet with a door in this compact spacecraft,” Hansen says in the video, noting that it’s “the one place we can go during the mission where we can actually feel like we’re alone for a moment.”

      Next, he discusses the practical aspects of using the bathroom in such a way that prevents anything from floating around the cabin—something that could quickly lead to problems in such a confined space.

      Similar to the ISS bathroom, Orion’s toilet is equipped with a urine hose that collects liquid waste to prevent it from floating away in microgravity. Solid waste is sucked down into the toilet's base and into a bag, which is then sealed and compressed into a canister.

      “During the mission, we’ll need to replace that solid waste canister several times, and all of that will return to Earth with us,” Hansen explains. “Regarding urine, it gets collected and is vented to space a few times each day.”

      This differs from the ISS, where the urine is processed through the station’s Water Recovery System and recycled into drinking water for the crew.

      The Artemis II team is just days away from testing Orion’s toilet on an incredible journey that will bring them within approximately 5,000 miles of the lunar surface. It’s probably best not to get stuck in the toilet during that trip!

      The spacecraft’s advanced bathroom design illustrates that, despite the excitement and allure of space travel, such extraordinary missions still face very real practical challenges.