The Artemis II Astronauts Are (Literally) in Deep Shit

Before you panic, they’re OK—they just can’t get the toilet to work.

By Claire Guinan  |  April 6, 2026 | 5:28pm
Photo: Getty Images
The Artemis II Astronauts Are (Literally) in Deep Shit

Days after the Artemis II pilots launched the hell off this planet for a 10-day mission around the moon, they’ve found themselves in deep shit. Before you panic, they’re OK—they just can’t get the toilet to work. It’s always when you’re 200,000 miles away from a bathroom that you need it the most. (But maybe they should’ve gone before they left?)

The four-person crew on board Artemis II has encountered multiple issues with their toilet since launching into orbit on Wednesday. Shortly after the launch, the crew realized the toilet’s pump wasn’t working properly. The fix was straightforward, and astronaut Christina Koch stepped in, declaring herself the designated “space plumber.”

@cbsnews “I’m the space plumber.” Astronaut Christina Koch was able to fix Orion’s toilet after the crew reported an issue with it shortly after reaching orbit on Wednesday evening. #nasa #space #artemisii #moon ♬ original sound – cbsnews

The next toilet problem arose on Saturday, when they encountered a more troubling issue: frozen urine clogging the pipe, which prevented them from emptying it.

“It’s an issue with dumping the waste out of the toilet,” Flight Director Judd Frieling said. “And so it appears to me that we probably have some frozen urine in the vent line.”

To fix the clog, Mission Control was hard at work figuring out how to warm the urine so it could be ejected, and I love the idea of a room full of the smartest engineers and supercomputers racing to find a way to eject pee. Our smartest minds at work, thinking about how to warm up piss. Beautiful.

The astronauts attempted to unfreeze the urine by rotating it toward the sun, which was partially successful in clearing the clog—but “for fecal use only”—until Sunday night, when Mission Control confirmed the pipes were clear.

“You are go for all types of use of the toilet,” Mission Control’s Jacki Mahaffey told the crew. All bowel systems go!

If you’re interested—which I can’t imagine you are—enjoy this video of the astronauts finally dumping their shit into space. Science!

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