A cosmonaut-turned-space plumber repaired the only toilet at the International Space Station, bringing relief while his colleagues worked on opening a new Japanese laboratory.
While nine other astronauts were busy with their own space projects, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko toiled away in the Russian Zvezda module for more than two hours to replace a toilet pump and install new hoses.
After three tests showed no malfunction, Moscow Mission Control gave the station crew a 'go' to use the facility again.
The toilet's urine disposal system began to fail last week, forcing the station's two Russian cosmonauts and one US astronaut to use the facility on the Soyuz capsule moored at ISS.
The solid waste system always worked.
The space station got more crowded on Monday when the US shuttle Discovery arrived with seven astronauts, the new Japanese laboratory and the much-needed replacement pump.
Dubbed Kibo, or 'hope' in Japanese, the bus-sized lab became the station's biggest room when it was attached to the outpost with a robotic arm on Tuesday following the mission's first spacewalk.
