Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Fixing the Flying Toilet

NEWS ITEM: After the toilet on the orbiting space station broke down, the space shuttle Discovery delivered an unusual payload to the stressed astronauts: a pump to fix the faulty potty.


The astronauts, with great distaste,
By hand were pumping liquid waste
Because their toilet pump was broke —
In outer space, this is no joke!

To rescue came the shuttle — fast!
The trip itself was quite a blast!
Worldwide, in ev’ry Hamlet, we
Heard asked: “to pee or not to pee?”

The deed is done! the toilet’s fixed!
Reactions ’round the globe are mixed:
Some folks applaud, while others fret,
The sky-high cost makes them upset.

There ne’er was such a lengthy trip
To rectify a pesky drip.
If Halliburton did the task,
Would it cost less? some people ask.

(Remember Nixon’s “plumber” freaks
Whose specialty was plugging leaks?)
The astronauts feel rapture, bliss:
It works! (the Oval Orifice).

Inspiring it is to see
A NASA flush with victory!


“An instalator darf men shnel,”
Dos iz dem shtern-flier’s yell.
Tsebrokhn iz der klozet, oy!
In kosmos-shif es shtinkt azoy!

Vebshifl kumt! Der rotunik
Iz aktuel, efektiv, quick!
Danken got! M’ken dokh vern krank,
Farsapen zikh fun dem geshtank!

Tsurekht makhn iz a sukses!
Der klozet — mer nit kayn mess!
Di shtern-fliers urinirn,
Un zeyre gesheftn oykh durkhfirn!

Tsu tayer kost di gantse shpil?
Kritikers fregn yetst “vi fil?”
Zey viln visn what would be
The Cheney-Halliburton fee.

M’dreyt zikh dort arum, in space
— A tsebrokhene john iz keyn disgrace!

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.