Interstellar Plumbers!

New parts to fix an intermittent problem with the Russian toilet on the International Space Station arrived in the United States last night and were packed inside space shuttle Discovery well before dawn at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The crew of Discovery and the residents of the International Space Station will install the new parts, including a pump, during the STS-124 mission that is scheduled to launch Saturday at 5:02 p.m. EDT. The three station residents already in orbit currently are using alternatives to the toilet.

The main toilet on the station works for solid waste disposal but requires additional steps for liquid waste. It also takes two crew members and 10 minutes of maintenance after three flushes, said Kirk Shireman, deputy International Space Station program manager.

"It is very inconvenient at this time because it requires a lot of manual intervention," Shireman said. read more at nasa.gov