The toilet problem had fast become the most pressing issue of man's latest foray into space after a disposal pump on the only toilet on the $100 billion space station malfunctioned.
For a fortnight the three man crew aboard had been forced to visit the facility in pairs and operate the pump manually, a time consuming and unpleasant chore.
But relief came with the arrival of the Space Shuttle Discovery which brought a replacement pump and a cosmonaut plumber to fit it.
Mark Kelly of the Navy, the commander of the shuttle mission, first words after entering the station after docking on Monday were: "You looking for a plumber?"
Russian Oleg Kononenko immediately worked to fix the fault installing new parts on the Russian-built toilet that had been rushed from Moscow to Florida ahead of Discovery's launch.
After a two hour repair job NASA officials back on earth heard the message: "The service module toilet is back in business."