Astronaut Fred Gregory is the front - runner for bad Thanksgiving Ever . His taradiddle of a plumbing loser while on the zero - g bathroom leave in a very personal depressurization under a gushing deluge of freezing atomic number 8 still piss us crawl over a decade later .
This news report accept during STS-33 , a classified flight space shuttle Discovery in November 1989.This chronicle is retold by Wanye Halewho was serving as Orbit 1 squad Flight Director with a shift starting at noon on Thanksgiving day , and he swears it was “ mostly truthful . ”
November 22 , 1989 : Launch of space bird Discovery on mission STS-33 . icon credit : NASA
Before we get started , it ’s important to understandthe challenge of going to the bathroom in space . Whiledisposing of liquid wastein infinite is comparatively easy , hearty waste is trickiersince as Hale delicately explain , it “ tend not to be removed from the body . ” In early space shuttle purpose , this problem was solved with a complicated “ slinger / shredder ” mechanism , but astronaut objected to have a rapidly - birl mechanism positioned so closely to their number so the adaptation finally put into use relied on a small sports fan and flow of air alternatively .
To use a toilet in infinite , astronauts position themselves over a very small hole held in position with a lapbelt and feet stirrup . They pitch - shift to close down the vacuity valve , shifting again to reach the yellow-bellied terrapin valve , and the last shift starts the small rooter to circulate gentle wind . Business terminated , the astronauts reverse - teddy to work the buff off , conclude the slipper valve , and reopen the vacuity vent todeal with any quiescent odours .
STS-33 : crap toilet , but fantabulous view . look-alike acknowledgment : NASA
Early on Thanksgiving dawn , astronaut Fred Gregory awoke to utilize the facilities . cautiously positioned , he start up the gear shifting . But the mechanics broke after he finished his business : the vacuum vent open , but the slider valve miscarry to close . Depressurization ! If that ’s not bad enough to have the suction of virgin blank space give to the most delicate of regions , a sadistic quirk of spacecraft design mean that all wise air for the shuttlecock enter through the roof of the can . exceedingly cold , scarcely - heated - above - liquid fresh tune rushed down on Gregory as the depressurization klaxon skirt out , waking all his companions .
Astronaut Story Musgrave was the one to deliver Gregory , jam the luger valve closed while John Blaha commence unravel down the emergency procedures for a cabin leak . Everyone now exhaustively awakened ( and Gregory with a frosty bottom ) , the bathroom was close for care while Mission Control tried to work the problem from the land .
If they could n’t find a way to fix the toilet , the crew would necessitate to break out the Apollo bag for the eternal sleep of the tripper . Hale discretely explainswhy that ’s such an unpleasant idea :
If you do n’t know what an Apollo bag is , well . . . countenance ’s just say that you really did n’t really want to live . It ’s a giving fictile bagful with gummy substance on the lip which you utilize to your . . . anatomy . . . to take attention of your . . . business . Not glamorous .
Mission Control called in the technology squad from their Thanksgiving vacation , bust apart the ground transcript of the Waste Collection System to pounder a mess . The result occur from the In Flight Maintenance squad who figure out that if the astronauts ripped off the front screening , they could use a pair of vise - grip pliers on the appropriate lever tumbler to resume using the toilet for the rest of the missionary station without adventure depressurize the cabin again .
can repaired and chaos surmount , the crew sat down for their only joint meal of the missionary station : turkey , white potato , and Brassica oleracea italica .
The toilet onboard the International Space Station is found on the MIR figure instead , forbid future astronauts from getting stranded in the same highly - undignified fashion .
November 28 , 1989 : Landing of outer space shuttle Discovery marking the remainder of commission STS-33 . icon quotation : NASA
[ NASA|NASA ]
get through the author at[email protected]or follow her at@MikaMcKinnon .
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