This is the first time a spacecraft has traveled beyond Earth's orbit with a fixed toilet. On previous missions, such as the Apollo program between 1961 and 1972, astronauts did not have a bathroom as such and had to use special bags to store waste during the journey. The current system, known as the Universal Waste Management System, is designed to be used by both men and women. This device, specifically designed to operate in space, malfunctioned, preventing its full use for several hours. It turns out the toilet fan got stuck. The system uses air currents to direct solid waste into a special container. For urine, each crew member uses a personal funnel connected to a suction system that transports it to a tank. While the solid waste function was working normally, the urinal was completely out of service. The crew had to resort to a bag-and-funnel system to urinate overnight. Later, Mission Control guided astronaut Christina Koch through some plumbing tricks to fix it, which she ultimately did successfully. 'I'm pleased to report that the toilet is ready for use,' announced Amy Dill, in charge of communications with the astronauts.
