The Artemis II space flight has captured the imagination of millions of Americans, as the tiny spaceship hurtles four astronauts into space on a rendezvous with the far side of the moon. It is a chance to advance human knowledge of space travel and science. It is a chance to marvel at the accomplishments of technology as mankind puts its collective minds to advancing our understanding of the cosmos. It is a chance to dream about the economic possibilities of mining our nearest neighbor in the heavens to contribute to our well-being.
Unfortunately, the one thing that everyone will remember in the immediate future is that the toilet on the Artemis spacecraft is broken. What can the astronauts do to fix the device that will help them boldly go when they’ve got to go? WOR national correspondent Rory O‘Neill has been covering the mission since long before the four astronauts lifted off on April 1st. He appeared on 710 WOR’s Curtis Sliwa and Larry Mendte in the Morning program to discuss what’s gone wrong on a voyage where just about everything else has gone right.
O’Neill explained what the crew has done in dealing with and trying to repair the broken toilet: “They hadn’t primed the pump enough, so that’s good. That part of it is fine. The smell, they think, is actually related to something else. It wasn’t the fact that it was National Burrito Day- that is unrelated- but the smell is not a safety issue, but they are still having issues trying to get the waste water out of the capsule, in part, they think, because technically, while it’s mostly water it’s not all water, and that may be part of the problem.”
O’Neill says it’s the second space race, with the Soviet Union swapped out for China, that has the United States so motivated to get the moon program up and running again: “Right now, I think it’s the competition with China that’s really kicking us in the backside to try and get this going again. I think that would be a fun topic, a fun side project, but it’s really the fact that China may be laying claim to parts of the moon, and we want American-made boots there first.”
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