Four people flying to the Moon faced a number of minor troubles — from a low temperature at the beginning of work to a breakdown of the urinary system of the toilet on the second day and the need to use bags instead. Fortunately, the biggest difficulties have been compensated for so far. But all of them together can move the situation towards a solution, which Naked Science has already discussed in our video podcast about the mission.: It is possible that when astronauts land on the Moon, their ship will dock with Starship not in lunar orbit, but already in Earth orbit.
At the very beginning of the Orion flight, the temperature inside the spacecraft was below optimal values for some time. Then the ship experienced problems with urine discharge into space. Although leading American space journalist Eric Berger wrote about it ironically: "Artemis II is going so well that we have to talk about frozen urine," in fact, everything is far from funny. The fact is that in 1970, during the Apollo 13 mission, a combination of low temperatures and freezing of the urinary tube outside the ship forced the crew to use so-called bags for urination. As a result, one of the astronauts developed a urinary tract infection first, and then a kidney infection, which required long-term treatment after returning to Earth.
We asked Georgy Trishkin, a rocket launch analyst and author of the Texan Bulletin telegram channel, about what was happening. In recent months, he has repeatedly shown that his sources in the American space industry are very reliable and often have information on critical issues earlier than others.
NS: The crew of Apollo 13 had problems similar to the current ones on Orion: the urine output system did not work. Back then, too, people ended up using bags instead of toilets, which is believed to have led to infection of the urinary tract and kidneys in Fred Hayes, as the bags do not provide complete tightness and sterility.
The similarity raises the question: can any of the crew members develop something like this now?
Georgy Trishkin: Well, to begin with, we should be glad that the problem with waste disposal was solved a few hours ago — turning the ship in the right direction to warm up the [urine output] line with sunlight really helped, although not the first time. And the liquid waste tank was emptied. So at the moment, the full functionality of the toilet has been restored.
In general, despite certain similarities with the problems of the Apollo 13 era, a lot has changed in 54 years. Especially in everyday matters — and many personal hygiene products have been inherited by Orion from the ISS program, where they have also been improved in several iterations over the past 25 years.
I must say that if there is such a medical problem, we are unlikely to find out about it. NASA has established the possibility of private consultations for astronauts. By the way, from the same toilet stall. And some data on their condition will be published only within a few years after this mission. It's also worth remembering that the temperature on board was sorted out — the life support system was turned off on the second day, and this reduces the risks.
NS: The use of packages is potentially unsafe, it would be good to be able to do something about it by the crew if turns to the Sun do not help. In your opinion, would the situation be better if Orion had at least one spacesuit? After all, then astronauts would be able to go into outer space and try to clean the tube. Or, in your opinion, is there too little space for even one EVA suit? I had to read that Orion was not designed for the performance of an internal pressure maintenance system like SpaceX's Crew Dragon, so you can't just open the hatch and release the astronaut, and then quickly return the pressure. Is this true, or is it just a rumor?
Georgy Trishkin: NASA provided Orion with the opportunity to go into outer space through the ship itself, like the Apollo spacecraft, but also as part of the old asteroid expedition program, which was canceled in favor of the Artemis lunar program. But the requirements have changed a lot since then, and for the second mission, similar functionality has been implemented. The new space suits from Axiom have not yet been tested in real conditions. This will only be next year in the updated Artemis III mission plan, and then on one or two landing modules under the HLS program [Starship and a module from Blue Origin].
But if you imagine that such a spacesuit would have been on the ship and there were plans to go out in it, then it would hardly have been possible to fix anything. After all, any spacewalk is an additional risk and difficulty. And it can only work if there is a prepared repair plan and a tool for such work on board the ship. Fortunately, simpler methods were used here. The risk limits for this mission are very strict.
NS: You mentioned on your telegram channel that there were other minor malfunctions during this flight to the Moon, which generally worsened the Agency's attitude towards the Orion spacecraft. Which ones would you single out as the most important?
Georgy Trishkin: Yes, the first day was nervous for everyone, but after the impulse that brought the ship to the moon, it became easier. That's what this flight is for — to catch as many "sores" from the ship as possible so that you don't have to waste time on it during the flight to land on the moon.
The main problems? Once again, we hear about problems with the pressure supply system to the fuel tanks using helium. NASA representatives at the last press conference mentioned that they had to switch to a backup node. And this is a critical part of the ship.
There are also various problems in electrical circuits. Everything related to the instrument panel for this ship has not yet flown into orbit. So the crew periodically encounters pop-up warnings.
A lot of attention was focused on the smell of something burnt from the toilet stall. But its source has not been found, apparently, part of the cabin's sound insulation is overheating somewhere. However, this is rather a small problem.
NS: Isn't it possible that all these minor problems in the current mission will lead NASA to dock with Starship in elliptical Earth orbit? So that astronauts can transfer to Starship, where there is room for spacesuits for outer space. And in general, there is a life support system from SpaceX, which has shown the best results.
Georgy Trishkin: If we're talking about future Artemis missions, the details are constantly changing. NASA, along with Blue Origin and SpaceX, hardly share information about the progress of preparation — it is there, but it is hidden from the public until a new mission architecture is approved and one of the two companies is selected.
Yes, both contractors have submitted several accelerated options for Artemis IV to NASA, but they are still being discussed behind closed doors. And since the Agency has finally abandoned a close to rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) near the Moon, this slightly reduces the energy requirements for flying to the Moon.
One of the current non—public plans is that Starship HLS will be able to carry Orion to low lunar orbit. And since the Orion spacecraft itself will not waste energy on acceleration from Earth orbit, this will allow it to save fuel for the return journey. This plan has its bottlenecks, and now it is impossible to say exactly which option will be chosen. But, answering your question, we can say this: NASA will prefer the system and plan that meets both the deadline and safety standards. For them, any incalculable risk is an unacceptable risk.
