Crossed In Space

Legs crossed, actually. The only toilet on the International Space Station has stopped working.

The international space station's lone toilet is broken, leaving the crew with almost nowhere to go.

So Nasa may order an in-orbit plumbing service call when space shuttle Discovery visits next week. Until then, the three-man crew will have to make do with a jury-rigged system when they need to urinate.

While one of the crew was using the Russian-made toilet last week, the toilet motor fan stopped working, according to Nasa.

Since then, the liquid waste gathering part of the toilet has been working on-and-off. Fortunately, the solid waste collecting part is functioning normally.

Frankly, I'm a bit surprised that they only put a single toilet on board. This is a single failure mode that is rather ridiculous. Hopefully, the next shuttle brings a plumber up.