Space Station bathroom broken!  − 30 May, 2008

When I was a little kid my family always used to tease me – every where we went, I had to find out where the bathroom was. I was always concerned with where the bathroom was, so that if I had to go, I knew where to go. I was a pretty conscientious kid, and truthfully, I remember desperately having to pee, my mom chatting away and wanting me to wait until she could politely interrupt her conversation to take me to the potty. But generally, when little kids tell you they have to go, it means they have to go now, and I hated that feeling of dancing around, crossing my little legs to prevent an accident.

So I had to laugh when I read the article on CNN about the busted urinal aboard the International Space Station.

That really sucks. Or, I guess, doesn’t… as the urinal is supposed to suction away the urine into a holding tank. Somewhere along the line it got broken, and of course, there are no 24 hour emergency plumbers on call in orbit. Of course, that’s what happens when you go with the lowest bidder, as happens when the government selects bids for projects. They like to go with what is cheapest. And you always pay for it, one way or another. Usually in repair costs and serious inconvenience.

It’s never fun to have bodily fluids floating around the cabin, I would think.

I guess they will be putting on some items to repair the system on the next shuttle, along with the big Japanese laboratory capsule.

And then our esteemed astronauts will have to become plumbers for a project…