12:01pm UK, Thursday May 29, 2008

Astronauts on the International Space Station are hoping an urgent delivery from Earth will solve a delicate problem - their only toilet is broken.

180 international space station astronaut NASA

One giant leak for mankind

The team has been been putting up with a space jam for about a week since the lav started playing up.

A Nasa employee is rushing from Russia to Florida with a new pump, which will be taken to the station on the shuttle Discovery on Saturday.

The station's sole toilet is housed in the Russian-built Zvezda module, which serves as the living quarters for the three-person crew.

Nasa decided to fly a new pump for the interplanetary porcelain on Discovery, even though it means leaving other equipment behind.

"Clearly having a working toilet is a priority for us," said Scott Higginbotham of Nasa.

The toilet's solid waste disposal has been working well enough, but the urine collection system has been sporadic.

Astronauts have been using facilities in the Soyuz capsule, which is docked at the station, while also carrying out temporary repairs.

Meteorologists predicted an 80% chance that conditions would be suitable for Discovery's blast-off at the start of a planned 14-day mission.

The awaiting astronauts will have fingers - and everything else - crossed that the weather holds.