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Elon Musk said SpaceX's first-ever civilian crew had 'challenges' with the toilet and promised an upgrade for the next flight

Sep 21, 2021, 20:04 IST
Business Insider
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. REUTERS/Steve Nesius
  • Elon Musk said the next SpaceX civilian mission would have a better toilet.
  • SpaceX successfully completed its first all-civilian mission, Inspiration4, last week.
  • Musk said on Twitter that there had been "challenges" with the toilet, without elaborating.
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Elon Musk said on Twitter that SpaceX plans to upgrade the amenities for its next space-tourist flight, including the toilet.

The Inspiration4 crew, made up of four civilian astronauts, took off on Wednesday aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. They landed back on Earth on Saturday evening.

Elon Musk tweeted on Monday that he met the crew in person in Florida, and then he answered questions from Twitter users about the company's plans for the next mission.

Responding to one user, Musk said the next flight would have "upgraded toilets." He added, "We had some challenges with it this flight."

The billionaire did not elaborate on what these challenges were or how exactly the toilets would be upgraded.

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Jared Isaacman, one of the passengers on Inspiration4, told Insider in July that the toilet for Crew Dragon was located on the ceiling of the spacecraft and featured a glass dome, meaning crew members had a 360-degree view while using the bathroom.

"It's not a ton of privacy. But you do have this kind of privacy curtain that cuts across the top of the spacecraft, so you can kind of separate yourself from everyone else," Isaacman said.

Isaacman added that learning to use the toilet on the spacecraft was part of the civilian astronauts' rigorous preflight training.

An illustration of SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship with a glass dome or "cupola" at its nose - containing the toilet. SpaceX

Musk also said the next flight would have a small oven for heating food, as well as WiFi provided by Starlink, SpaceX's satellite-internet project.

The crew for the Inspiration4 mission took cold pizza on its three-day flight. While in space, the crew members chatted with Musk and the actor Tom Cruise.

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