The broken toilet on the International Space Station (ISS) in the Russian Zvezda module, which revealed an air leak, is working again. This information follows from the negotiations of the crew with the Earth, which are broadcast by NASA on its page on the YouTube video hosting on Sunday, October 11.
“Good news, then we can again use the ACS (sewage and sanitary device – Ed.)” – said the center’s specialist to cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin.
Now the ISS has two Russian-made toilets, they are located in the Zvezda and Tranquility modules. Another US-made toilet was delivered in October by the Cygnus cargo ship and is scheduled to be installed at Tranquility.
Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Wagner, as well as American astronaut Christopher Cassidy are currently on the ISS.
The breakdown of the toilet became known the day before. The Mission Control Center near Moscow recommended that the Russian cosmonauts use the lavatory in the American segment.
Earlier, on October 6, Ivanishin told the Mission Control Center that a smoke detector was triggered on the International Space Station (ISS) in the Zarya module, which belongs to the Russian segment.
On October 3, the ISS crew recorded the readings of air leaks. It was decided to close the transition compartment of the Zvezda module for another three days.
The next day, MCC asked the astronauts to eliminate the leak to the ISS by mid-October.