Elon Musk reveals toilet trouble on SpaceX’s first private mission, promises update, pizza-warming oven and WiFi

By Monica Athnasious

Published Sep 22, 2021 at 11:42 AM

Reading time: 1 minute

22828

Elon Musk took to Twitter on Monday 20 September to reveal that there had been some “challenges” for the Inspiration4 crew regarding the toilet used on-board SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft—which first took off Wednesday 15 September and landed the following Saturday evening. After tweeting that he had met with the crew, the SpaceX CEO began answering questions from users revealing there were issues with the bog and promising updates.

In a response to one user, Musk wrote that for future flights there would “definitely be upgraded toilets. We had some challenges with it this flight.” Also writing that there would be “a little oven for heating food and Starlink WiFi” after details surfaced that the crew ate cold pizza and were unable to send as many photos or videos of Inspiration4 because of lack of accessibility to ground stations where NASA had priority. The WiFi for future flights would be connections made through SpaceX’s Starlink satellites.

One of the civilian passengers on Inspiration4, Jared Isaacman, explained to Insider in July 2021 that Crew Dragon’s—a variant of Dragon 2—toilet facilities were positioned on the spacecraft’s ceiling and encompassed by a glass dome that showcased a 360-degree view for passengers when using the toilet. Basically, you could look out into space while you bake a loaf. “It’s not a ton of privacy. But you do have this privacy curtain that cuts across the top of the spacecraft, so you can kind of separate yourself from everyone else,” Isaacman told Insider.

He also added that part of the civilian astronauts’ intensive training for the flight involved learning how to operate the toilet on board.

The specific “challenges” are currently unclear, but according to SpaceX’s Benji Reed, the problem may be linked to the suction fan—the item responsible for the effective removal of waste. During a post-flight conference, Reed, leader of the human spaceflight programmes for SpaceX, stated, “We had a couple of issues that we worked [on], we did work something [out] on the Waste Management System but that was worked [out] fine and, you know, the crew was happy and healthy.”

Cold pizza and a toilet that doesn’t flush? Sounds like a really expensive easyJet flight to me.

Keep On Reading

By Eliza Frost

Bad timing? Gavin Casalegno’s Dunkin’ ad sparks backlash over actor’s alleged conservative views

By Eliza Frost

Controversial American Apparel owner just opened LA Apparel in NYC and TikTok girlies are flocking to shop

By Eliza Frost

Vogue has declared boyfriends embarrassing, and the internet agrees

By Eliza Frost

Couples who meet online are less happy in love, new research finds

By Eliza Frost

How The Summer I Turned Pretty licensed so much of Taylor Swift’s discography for its soundtrack 

By Eliza Frost

Online pornography showing choking to be made illegal, says government 

By Eliza Frost

The swag gap relationship: Does it work when one partner is cooler than the other?

By Eliza Frost

People think Donald Trump is dead and they’re using the Pentagon Pizza Index to prove it

By Eliza Frost

Renters’ Rights Bill becomes law; this is what it means for you

By Eliza Frost

Netflix’s Adolescence sweeps Emmys, with star Owen Cooper making history as youngest-ever male winner

By Eliza Frost

Zohran Mamdani wins New York City mayoral race, and wife Rama Duwaji becomes city’s Gen Z first lady 

By Eliza Frost

Does the SKIMS Face Wrap actually work, or is it just another TikTok trap?

By Eliza Frost

Skibidi, tradwife, and delulu are among new words added to Cambridge Dictionary for 2025

By Eliza Frost

Are you in Group 7? Explaining the latest viral TikTok trend

By Eliza Frost

Sabrina Carpenter says you need to get out more if you think Man’s Best Friend artwork is controversial 

By Eliza Frost

Taylor Swift announces new album on Travis Kelce’s podcast. Everything we know about TS12 so far

By Eliza Frost

Taylor Swift’s Release Party of a Showgirl is coming to cinemas everywhere, and it’s already made $15M

By Eliza Frost

What is dry begging? And why is it a relationship red flag?

By Eliza Frost

The Summer I Turned Pretty is getting a movie. Could it be here in time for Christmas?

By Eliza Frost

Will Belly choose herself in the final episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty?