Relief in space as toilet fixed

Astronauts must be flushed with happiness as they've managed to fix a broken toilet on the International Space Station.

A pump for the only loo on the station was delivered by the shuttle Discovery on Monday.

After three tests, the toilet appeared to be working, according to an update from US space agency Nasa.

And don't worry, the astronauts had been able to use the loo while it was broken, but had to flush it by hand.

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They've also been able to use the toilet on the Soyuz capsule during the 10 days it was broken.

"It's unfortunate we're talking about toilets, but that really is the life, that's the future of human exploration in space," said deputy space station programme manager Kirk Shireman.

Kibo is installed on the ISS

"I don't take it as a really bad thing. It's just something perhaps everyday people can really relate to."

The astronauts have also fixed up a new space lab to the station, which was also delivered by Discovery.

Called Kibo, which is Japanese for hope, the billion dollar lab is now the largest room at the space station at 11m long.