Technology is a wonderful thing. When it works. When it doesn’t, you sometimes have to wonder why we try these things.

There’s been a lot in the news recently about the Artemis II space mission. I haven’t read any of the articles, or watched or listened to coverage, so I’m not quite sure why this is such a big deal.

Yes, it has been 50 years since the last time humans sent a spacecraft around the moon. But it isn’t that we didn’t know how, it’s just that there wasn’t sufficient reason to do so. (Cost may also have been a consideration.) We’ve been there. We’ve done that.

I have noted the headlines though. Apparently the toilet doesn’t work. Fortunately there are other methods for waste disposal, given that humans aren’t designed to go that long without urination and defecation.

Back in 1969, when the first moon landing took place, it took a roomful of computers to provide the brain power for the flight. Technology has improved so much that your phone has more computing power than was used to put a man on the moon in 1969.

Back then, they used urine and fecal collection bags to handle human waste. Guess what the astronauts used on the Artemis II mission.

You guessed it. I wonder if they were leftovers still in storage from the Apollo program.

They have had fifty years to get ready for this mission. Fifty years to improve the technology.

Why couldn’t they figure out how to make a toilet that would work in space?

And will they be able to come up with something that works when they make a longer trip?

After all, they are planning a trip to Mars in the not too distant future. That’s 140 million miles (225 million kilometers). With no rest stops along the way and no roadside bushes for emergencies.

If we can’t design a working toilet, is that a sign we should stay home?