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What nearly went wrong on Nasa's space mission - and what still could

BBC News · · 663 words · By Pallab Ghosh
open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c36rxe9w97zo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

fact_checkFact-Check Results

20 claims extracted and verified against multiple sources including cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia.

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“A faulty toilet and issues involving two safety systems were reported over radio.”
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“NASA managed to resolve the problems by being 'quick on their feet', an official later said.”
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“The Artemis II crew are now hurtling around the earth's orbit, carrying out final tests and checks before they head towards the moon.”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artemis II is a crewed lunar flyby mission under the Artemis program. Launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026, the ten-day mission is intended to carry NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_II
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artemis III is planned to be the second crewed mission of the NASA-led Artemis lunar exploration program. The mission's objectives are to conduct tests in low Earth orbit with one or both commercially…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_III
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artemis program is a Moon exploration program led by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), formally established in 2017 through Space Policy Directive 1. By 2028…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis_program
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“Astronaut Christina Koch reportedly acted as a plumber, dismantling parts of the toilet under instruction from mission control.”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Christina Hammock Koch ( KUUK; née Hammock; born January 29, 1979) is an American engineer and NASA astronaut of the class of 2013. She received Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Koch
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of women who have traveled into space serving as a commander or crew member of a spacecraft, commonly referred to as astronauts or cosmonauts, sorted by date of first flight. T…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_astronauts
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Victor Jerome Glover Jr. (born April 30, 1976) is a United States Navy captain, test pilot, and astronaut from the NASA Astronaut Group 21. He was the pilot on the first operational flight of the Spac…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Glover
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“Mission control later said over the radio, 'Happy to report that toilet is go for use.'”
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“The lack of gravity in space means waste management is a key issue in space travel.”
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“NASA has spent more than $23m (£17.4m) developing the 'Universal Waste Management System'.”
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Lunar I-Hab (formerly known as International Habitation Module, International Habitat or I-HAB) was designed as a habitat module of the Lunar Gateway station, to be built by the European Space Age…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_I-Hab
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Resni.ca (Slovene: [rɛsnìːt͡sa]) is a Slovenian political party, founded on 14 January 2021, and led by Zoran Stevanović. The party organized protests against the introduction of the "recovered, vacci…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resni.ca
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A space toilet or zero-gravity toilet is a toilet that can be used in a weightless environment. In the absence of weight, the collection and retention of liquid and solid waste is directed by use of a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_toilet
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“Both men and women are able to use the system, which includes a funnel attached to a hose to process urine while using gentle airflow to eliminate spills.”
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“A specialised seat allows for stools to be sucked into a sealed container, with tethers and restraints being used to stop the crew from floating away.”
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“The Orion spacecraft also has plenty of backup options, from alternative collection bags to different ways of routing liquids.”
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“The flight termination system had a communications issue, which was resolved by using hardware from the previous Space Shuttle programme.”
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“The launch abort system gave a higher-than-expected temperature reading, but it was judged that it wouldn't affect the launch.”
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“The countdown clock was held at 10 minutes while engineers went through final preparations.”
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“Engineers went through final preparations and confirmed system readiness with statements like 'Booster, go', 'GNC, go', 'Range, go'.”
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“The rocket then launched into the sky, to the awe of those watching at the Kennedy Space Centre and around the world.”
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“The crew have been directed to spend hours quietly trying to break their spacecraft - on purpose.”
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“They cycle computers through different modes, switch radios between ground stations and relay satellites, and deliberately move around the cabin to see how the life-support system copes as carbon dioxide and humidity build up.”
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“Engineers also command small thruster firings and check the European-built service module responds exactly as the models predict.”
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“All of this is designed to answer a simple question: is the ship healthy enough to risk flying hundreds of thousands of kilometres from home with no quick way back?”
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“If any of these tests throws up something they do not understand, NASA will not hesitate to call off the trans-lunar injection burn and use Orion's engine to bring the astronauts straight back to earth.”
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info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.