Houston, we have a problem. The four NASA crew members aboard Artemis II are well into their 10-day mission around the moon, but experienced an early challenge during their first day in space — a broken toilet.
Unfortunately, there is only one toilet on the spacecraft, so the need for a space plumber was critical, and astronaut Christina Koch proudly filled the role after a test of the toilet on the Orion capsule, called the Universal Waste Management System, resulted in a blinking fault light.
“I’m the space plumber, I’m proud to call myself the space plumber.”
Mission specialists like @Astro_Christina train for all roles so they can jump in wherever they’re needed. Sometimes that means fixing vital machinery, like the spacecraft toilet. pic.twitter.com/RGBWkwRgX7
— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2026
The toilet is designed to vent urine overboard and store feces until the crew’s return, NBC News reported, adding that had it not been fixed, “the backup plan was for the crew to use what NASA calls ‘collapsible contingency urinals’ to collect urine in bags. The toilet would still have been used for fecal collection.”
Another problem surfaced early on when the crew experienced a “loss of communications” with ground controllers. Turns out, according to the network, the crew “seemed to be able to hear Mission Control, but not the other way around.”
The glitch was resolved quickly, and NASA officials are investigating the cause.
“There were no issues with the vehicle itself,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Wednesday at a post-launch news briefing. “Comms with the crew have been restored. We’re actively working the issue.”
After completing a “translunar injection burn” Thursday night, which lasted just under six minutes, the Artemis II astronauts are “now on trajectory to fly around the moon for the first time in 50 years,” Mission Control said afterwards.
Social media users had plenty of fun with the broken toilet — here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story, as seen on X:
Astronaut. Mission specialist. Space plumber. Christina Koch really said ‘I do it all’ and meant it. 💅✨
— TheGrowthEngr (@TheGrowthEngr) April 3, 2026
— 🇺🇸 One Nation 🇺🇸 (@ThinkingTramp) April 3, 2026
🤯🤯😂😂 pic.twitter.com/5wfsb8WT9y
— World Observer (@WorldObser15937) April 3, 2026
Send him up. pic.twitter.com/sCHw8scvQM
— Owen Lewis (@is_OwenLewis) April 2, 2026
Time to fill cans!
🧑🚀🥫👨🚀🥫👩🚀 pic.twitter.com/SInZeis0ph— SHITPISSSKINCAN (@spsccto) April 2, 2026
Soon on Artemis II pic.twitter.com/1lempzL3Ip
— Adam (@Adam_On_X_) April 2, 2026
A mystery to be solved pic.twitter.com/k5QkzzQiSt
— Omo eleshin meridinlogun. (@Victoria_temi__) April 2, 2026
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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