NASA addresses "burning smell" reported by Artemis II crew

Recently, the Artemis II crew reported noticing an unusual “burning” smell inside the Orion spacecraft, traced to the hygiene bay area. NASA officials say the odor has not been identified as biological, and there is currently no confirmed connection to the spacecraft’s Universal Waste Management System (UWMS). "For me, it was some sort of burning odor, and then it was definitely in the hygiene bay. And when I opened up the hygiene bay, the rest of the crew could smell it pretty much immediately," Jeremy Hansen had told the Mission Control. Debbie Korth, NASA’s Orion program deputy manager, noted that issues with space toilets are not uncommon. "Space toilets and bathrooms are something everybody can really understand... it’s always a challenge,” she said, noting that the space shuttle toilet was also often on the fritz.