How do you call the plumber in space?
Discovery will be loaded with spare parts to fix the main bathroom at the International Space Station. The urine-collection device apparently is not working.
The three crew members on the station, a U.S. astronaut and two cosmonauts, are using the toilet in the Soyuz module. The situation could become problematic when Discovery arrives and ten people are required to use the toilet on the tiny Soyuz, which is a Russian capsule also designated to be used at an emergency lifeboat.
Conditions are not unsanitary, said a NASA spokesman.
Though Discovery will carry up replacement parts on Saturday, NASA is not sure which parts will be included for replacement.
With the successful arrival on Mars of the Phoenix spacecraft, NASA is turning its attention to Saturday's launch of Discovery on a mission to deliver a massive Japanese laboratory to the International Space Station.
Technicians returned to work today at launch pad 39A. Most work crews had the Memorial Day weekend off. Discovery's astronaut crew arrives at Kennedy Space Center Wednesday about 11:30 a.m. EDT. The coundown begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Discovery will blast off at 5:02 p.m. EDT on a trip to deliver the 37-foot Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station. Three spacewalks will be performed during the 14-day mission.
- Patrick Peterson
ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click on the above image to see an updated image of Discovery at pad 39 A.
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