In a story that would be right at home in the GWC Forum’s “Life is teh suck today because” thread, NASA reports that one of two toilets in the International Space Station is on the blink. And in accordance with Murphy’s Law, the problem arises right as the ISS plays host to a record number of guests: thirteen, in fact.
And you thought the line at the ballgame was bad.
The ISS’s Destiny module plays home to the malfunctioning device. The USA delivered the complicated comfort station via Shuttle flight in November of 2008, complete with a multi-million dollar price tag. Let’s hope the guys sent in the warranty card on this one.
While a Russian-supplied module still offers working “facilities” — as does the docked Shuttle Endeavour — NASA controllers are working on logistics in the event things get, well, backed-up. In the meantime, astronauts have tacked up an “Out of Order” sign, and everyone has assigned bathrooms for the duration.
Mission control tasked Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne with repairing the space-john, evidently after he lost the zero-G coin toss. I know I’ll be wishing Mr. De Winne the best of luck. If successful, he’ll no doubt be the hero of NASA cocktail parties for years to come.
And rightly so. It’s darned-near impossible to get a plumber on the weekend!
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That toilet is possibly more disturbing than the examination table at a gynecologist!
“zero-G coin toss” ::Tanu falls off chair::
You said it Tanu- that is TERRIFYING!
Topgun, again, you have managed to both amuse and scare the pants off me…
Surely it should be “Jiggle the handle, Dave”?
“Jiggle the handle, HAL”
“I’m afraid i can’t do that, Dave..last night was enchilada night. Perhaps you should take a stress pil….”
It occurred to me earlier today… how might this toilet dysfunction relate to the Colbert treadmill thing? Probably not at all (sigh Serenity), but who doesn’t love a cobbled together illogical causal relationship?