NASA and SpaceX have confirmed that the four astronauts aboard the Crew-2 mission, including ESA's Thomas Pesquet, will manage without the capsule's toilet during their return to Earth. Crew members will rely on specialized undergarments designed for such contingencies.
NASA officials announced on October 29 that the toilet system in SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour will be unavailable for the Crew-2 astronauts as they undock from the International Space Station (ISS) in the coming days. SpaceX engineers identified a potential urine leak akin to one experienced during the Inspiration4 mission in September, where post-flight inspections revealed a dislodged tube allowing urine to enter the vent system instead of the storage tank.
As Bill Gerstenmaier, SpaceX's vice president of build and flight reliability, explained: "This tube basically allowed urine not to enter the storage tank, but did enter the vent system."
Prompted by this, SpaceX and NASA inspected the Crew-2 capsule, which docked in April. Astronauts detected similar leak signs, though no corrosion threatened the return. To ensure safety, preventive measures were implemented for reentry.
For relief during the journey, astronauts Shane Kimbrough, Megan McArthur, Akihiko Hoshide, and Thomas Pesquet will use purpose-built undergarments—a standard solution for launches, landings, and spacewalks.
SpaceX has since redesigned the toilet system to prevent future leaks.
The short-duration return bodes well for success. The Demo-2 mission in August 2020 took 19 hours post-undocking, but optimizations reduced Crew-1's return on May 2 to just 6.5 hours.
Crew-2's splashdown is targeted for Thursday, November 4, off Florida's coast, though schedules can shift. The Crew-3 launch, originally set for October 31 and delayed to November 3 due to weather, was further postponed to at earliest Saturday, November 6 over a minor, non-COVID medical issue.
Crew-3 comprises NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron, joined by ESA's Matthias Maurer, for a six-month ISS stay mirroring Pesquet's.
