Artemis II

Originally Posted by James Lacey

I have a very close family member who is an officer in the Navy, and has been deployed multiple times on aircraft carriers, who told me that "laundry fires" and "malfunctioning toilets" are all too common on long, especially extended deployments. It's essentially sabotage committed by exhausted crew members. It's important to acknowledge that there is no evidence this happened on the USS Gerald Ford, but it's not unheard of either.

I suspect your impressions are correct. Among the various items clogging the toilets: 2 foot long linens...I don't think they developed legs on their own and then decided to take a deep dive into the basins...

That said, and while we're on the subject of toilets, theone on the Orion craft is problematic again:   "Artemis 2 astronauts halfway to moon, report 'burning smell' from toilet".

https://www.space.com/news/live/artemis-2-nasa-moon-mission-updates-april-4-2026

PS: I thought they have backups for every system. Seems like an oversight on a crew-intensive usage issue. Maybe they should have toted a good 'ol fashion made in the USA Andy Gump with free samples of Febreze floating around in it, courtesy of a local Costco!

Got the scoop on the poop! The Artemis toilet was kaput because the peepee from the wewe froze in the lines! (Should've brought a gallon of prestone along--ok, zerex.)
I don't think the engineer who designed this thing was any kind of a steely-eyed missile man but just consider the history behind the story:

Armstrong and the gang didn't have this kind of a problem with their relief tube and he and Buzz LANDED on the moon! I mean if there's anything to get the 'ol GI tract kicked into overdrive, that should have been it. Not to mention Cronkite and the whole world was watching, no pressure, huh?... 

Looking forward to tomorrow's flyby of the Moon. Should be some good imagery.