(AFP) – Jun 3, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A cosmonaut-turned-space plumber repaired the only toilet at the International Space Station on Wednesday, 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 US space agency said.

A NASA television commentator later announced: "Victory was declared almost two hours ago."

The toilet's urine disposal system began to fail last week, forcing the station's two Russian cosmonauts and one American 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.

Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and American colleague Karen Nyberg began to outfit a vestibule between the station and the laboratory on Wednesday, removing thermal covers and installing power jumpers.

After the opening of the lab's hatch at 2052 GMT, Hoshide was to enter the new facility with the station's Russian commander, Sergei Volkov, wearing protective goggles and masks to test its air quality.

Japan's first manned space facility is 11.2-meters (36.7-feet) long with room for four astronauts. NASA's Destiny module is 8.5 meters long while Europe's Columbus facility measures 6.8 meters.

Kibo's 10-meter (33-foot) robotic arm, which will manipulate materials and equipment for science experiments, will also be installed during the Discovery mission.

Shuttle Endeavour already brought one piece of the laboratory in March -- a logistics module that will be used for storage.

The third and final part of the lab -- an outdoor facility that will allow experiments to be exposed to the effects of space -- will be delivered next year.

When completed, Kibo will allow astronauts to carry out experiments in space medicine, biology and biotechnology, material production, and communications, both in a pressurized environment and completely exposed to space.

The facility will be jointly monitored from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tsukuba facility and NASA Mission Control in Houston, Texas.

The US space agency, which hopes to complete construction of the ISS in 2010, considers the station a central part of space exploration ambitions, allowing scientists to study the effects of microgravity on humans.

• Link to the official NASA website: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

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