Not What Leaps to Mind as "Rocket Science"

Space

Thanks to handy cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, the only toilet on the International Space Station is back up and running.

Two weeks ago, the liquid waste system aboard the ISS began to malfunction. Ordinarily, urine is "flushed" via airflow which directs the waste to a pump, where it is then separated into gas and liquid. The pump failed, as did the two replacement pumps which were stored on board. Crew members instead had to use a roundabout system of manual flushing which consumed excess water and a great deal of time.

The humor of the situation was not lost on Cmdr. Mark Kelly of the Navy, who commanded a shuttle mission of the Discovery to deliver, among other things, a replacement pump. Upon his arrival at the Space Station, Kelly asked, "You looking for a plumber?”

Kononenko performed the 2-hour repair and tested the new system, which has been declared ready for use.

For more details and pictures, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/science/space/05shuttle.html?ref=science