Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG-13 cargo spacecraft is all set for its new mission to send a lavatory worth $23 million to the International Space Station. It will carry 3458 kilograms of weight and will mark the cargo spacecraft’s 14th mission to space.
It is a state of the art toilet designed to cater to space requirements. It comes with thigh straps, so the astronauts don’t flip over while doing the daily thing. It comes with a mandatory space recycling unit to make the most use of the water they have up in the space station.
The mission is on schedule as the initial conditions are all positive, including the weather forecast is 70 percent favorable. NASA has planned on using an Antares rocket to launch the Cygnus spacecraft. The launch is due at 9:38 PM on Thursday, the 1st of October, from NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The cargo includes scientific experimenting tools, some necessary crew supplies, and food items. Carrying all these essentials are of secondary importance as on this trip is aboard the new luxury and expensive lavatory.
The latest toilet is 65% smaller and 40% lighter than the one being used on the space station currently. The latest UWM’s are so far the most advanced toilets to get installed on ISS, according to a press release by NASA.
Recycling UWM’s:
These UWM come with better water treatment and recycling systems. Which, as discussed earlier, will convert the astronaut’s urine into re-usable drinking water. The latest design was updated and incorporated after taking feedback from female astronauts. One of the astronaut ‘Jessica Meir’ said that ‘Today’s coffee is tomorrow’s coffee when it comes to our urine.’