Astronauts on the SpaceX Crew Dragon are facing an uncomfortable journey back to Earth after the lavatory within their capsule sprang a leak.
Sending a plumber to the International Space Station, which orbits around (320 kilometres) above the earth, is obviously not an option. So, what is the solution?
Space undies of course!
The crew on board the capsule – Nasa’s Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide from Japan – will be relying on high-tech underwear normally worn during spacewalks to keep them comfortable.
The hitch is a bit of an embarrassment – not for the astronauts – but for both SpaceX and for NASA, which transferred the business of shuttling astronauts to the station from Russia to private American companies.
Exactly how long the quartet will have to cope with a non-working lavatory is unclear, as the journey back to Earth can take anywhere from six to 19 hours.
