this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2026
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[Eric Berger] Artemis II is going so well that we're left to talk about frozen urine (arstechnica.com)
submitted 3 days ago by threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works to c/spaceflight@sh.itjust.works
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[–] ptfrd@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

Was it a good idea for Orion to have a jettison system? A liquid-only one?

What about, instead, a small airlock, containing a basket with a pusher mechanism? And bags that can fit into the basket snugly?

Some bags designed for men to directly urinate into? Or perhaps just have a tank that empties into them? Some bags to act as the outer bag for smaller bags of fecal matter? Some bags for general trash?

P.S. And presumably in this case all the jettisoned material remains on an almost identical free return trajectory and will re-enter Earth's atmosphere at a similar time/place to Orion, and burn up?

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I’ll stop holding my breath when the heat shield doesn’t fail, tbh. There are known and serious issues with it, and they flew with it anyways.

[–] burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I was also worried about the life support system, which hadn't flown before.

Regarding the heat shield, I think any other company would have had to do another uncrewed test flight for the new reentry profile, but here we are. It does seem like a pretty crazy double standard.

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

These four astronauts have done a great job showing us how human this mission is. We get to ride along with them and see how they deal with toilet issues, interviews with plushies, and see some great photos they have taken. Its been a major part of my family's group chat the past few days.

Also, the waste water dumps have been a joy to witness tbh.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 3 days ago (2 children)

So they just dump the wastewater into space? What happens when the next mission hits that at 2000mph?

[–] Nomad@infosec.pub 4 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Space big, like really big. Everything moves in circles kinda. Nothing goes the same way twice more or less, just a few special places. So its fine.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

On thinking about this, it has basically the same trajectory as the ship, which is to use the moon's gravity to come around and head back to earth. So the wastewater would do the same?

[–] Nomad@infosec.pub 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Maybe, assuming no active course corrections. Even still, differing mass would change the orbit with time when reaching moon or earth, no?

[–] Starfighter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

No it doesn't. That's literally its main distinguishing point.

Classic physics experiment: Drop a block of steel and a feather in a vacuum. Which hits the ground first? (On earth, with the same fall height, etc)

Tap for spoilerBoth impact the ground at the same time

[–] Nomad@infosec.pub 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Are you sure? I thought the experiment is the same mass of feathers and steel.

[–] Starfighter@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Yes

Within the same gravitational field, all bodies accelerate in vacuum at the same rate, regardless of the masses or compositions of the bodies; [1]

Wikipedia: Gravitational Acceleration first paragraph. Follow the [1] citation for a better source than Wikipedia.

Additionally orbital mechanics would break down. If a dragon spacecraft at the same altitude as the ISS wouldn't experience the same gravitational acceleration they would have differing orbital periods and thus velocities and could never dock (or perform proximity operations).

[–] Nomad@infosec.pub 2 points 1 day ago

TIL. Thanks :)

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

The waste water dumps also travels at 2000mph, so it just floats in space with them until it flies off in its jettisoned direction.

[–] Dave@lemmy.nz 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

But they are on a return trajectory because of the moon's gravity. So I guess the wastewater will come back towards earth?

[–] 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

If the waste water has not entered the lunar gravity, then i imagine itll return to earth after a while. Keep an eye out for raining turds for the next 50 years or so