Their journey kicked off Monday just after 2 pm ET when the astronauts strapped into the Crew Dragon capsule, which has remained attached to the ISS since it arrived with the crew in April. They’ll spend the rest of the day aboard the capsule as it maneuvers through orbit. The capsule is slated to splash down off the coast of Florida, around 10:30 pm Monday.
SpaceX first discovered an issue with its spacecraft’s toilet in September while inspecting a different Crew Dragon capsule. The company found that a tube used to funnel urine into a storage tank became unglued, and was causing a leaky mess hidden beneath the capsule’s floor.
During a press conference conducted remotely from the ISS on Friday, McArthur said using undergarments rather than the toilet is “suboptimal.”
“But we are prepared to manage,” she said. “Spaceflight is full of lots of little challenges. This is just one more that we’ll encounter and take care of in our mission, so we’re not too worried about it.”
The spacecraft should still be safe to fly, if not slightly less comfortable than before.
Kimbrough, McArthur, Pesquet and Hoshide are making their return to Earth before the next crew of astronauts was able to get to the ISS to replace them. NASA and SpaceX are hoping to get another mission off the ground later this week.
That next mission, called Crew-3, was slated to take off last weekend but was delayed — first by weather issues and then by a “minor medical issue” with one of the astronauts. NASA said Thursday that it’s expecting that medical issue to clear before takeoff later this week, and SpaceX and NASA officials are now focused on finding a good weather opportunity for launch.