Let me guess, they used some sort of bright blue liquid, didn’t they?
If anything, the freezing point of urine should be below the freezing point of water given its high salt content.
Everybody who has used road salt in winter probably knows this.
They didn’t read the instructions.
If you look at a picture of the toilet, it basically looks like a large pipe. The first thought that may flash through one’s mind is, “how do you sit on a large pipe?” The answer of course is that in zero-G you never “sit” on anything. Which also raises the interesting question of peeing into this pipe when there is no gravity.
Someone, someday, may win a Nobel Prize for designing a truly effective zero-G toilet. We’re not there yet. We’re not far removed from Thomas Stafford trying to corral a smelly turd floating around in the Apollo capsule during Apollo 10.
Being an astronaut is not entirely glamorous, but neither is being a human. It’s just that back on earth, we’ve learned to deal with it.
I was thinking of something along the lines of those Dyson bladeless fans to help move things along if they are not travelling fast enough in the right direction…
It seems like the toilet would need to be able to be swiveled so that it can be in proper “downwards” position either through spin gravity or when under thrust. Although during thrust, everyone is strapped into their seats, so maybe not then.
The Nobel Prices are divided into six categories: Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, Peace, and Economic Sciences. Which one would be in your opinion the right one for the truly effective zero-G toilett?
I think the Nobel Price is not the right award for that engineering feat. The IgNobel, on the other hand…
Corollary:
Actio = reactio, so when the astronauts urinate or defecate in one direction they experience an acceleration in the oposite direction. The masses are very different (I hope), but in such a small space it could still be interesting. Even farting could have consequences!
Well, wouldn’t that be a contender for the physics Nobel, the inventor of an interstellar fart-driven spacecraft?
I count 53 lines of instructions.
Yet another entry from my never-finished novel ideas, a space colony inhabitant explaining to a grounder (Terran) about the many things you can’t take for granted in a closed cycle habitat: “In space, when you fart it goes in someone’s face”.
Peace, obviously.
President Ineptstein will be really pissed. Good!
All really. The only longshot there is Literature, but in the end, who doesn’t like to read on the toilet?
I wish to change my vote to all of the above.
He will still be pissed. 
Explosive diarrhea could have interesting propellant consequences! Yes, zero-G toilets definitely deserve Nobel-level physics research! 
In all seriousness, I’m saddened by the screwup with the toilet. By all accounts the containment devices are really disgusting. Which is why the toilet was added in the first place. I suspect there will be some firings and reassignments over this.
I only scanned the last ~24 hours of the thread.
@wolfpup, did you ever get a clear explanation of the PR stream’s display of capsule speed that makes sense to you? If not I have one.
That’s essentially what the Orion Drive is.
Well, in space, no one can smell your farts.
In a galaxy, fart fart away…