It is bad enough when the toilet gets clogged at home but it could be a lot more serious in space, especially with visitors on the way.
NASA said that the liquid waste handling function of the toilet at the International Space Station had malfunctioned and that the three astronauts aboard had to use the toilet at the Soyuz capsule moored at the station.
Eventually the two Russians and one American at the orbiting station were able to fix up a 'urine bypass' on the ISS toilet, located on the Zvezda module, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.
NASA spokeswoman Nicole Cloutier said that the space shuttle Discovery, scheduled to arrive at the ISS on Monday with seven astronauts aboard, would be carrying toilet parts to help repair the station's prickly plumbing.
Ms Cloutier said that it is not really an emergency - they have many options available if they need.
There is another toilet ready to fly in the Autumn, in order to have two toilets on board for when they will have the expanded crew of six at the ISS.
She added that there are also other devices if they really need to 'kinds of bags'.
