It ’s hard to maintain the kind of normalcy found in terrestrial sprightliness when you ’re in out space . Thefoodis different ; the surroundings is hostile ; evenrelievingyourself becomes a logistical nightmare . This also applies to something most multitude take for grant — doing laundry . So , how do spaceman get their clothescleanduring missions ?
Call it a filthy arcanum : They do n’t . alternatively , worn clothes get burned .
When spaceman on theInternational Space Station(ISS ) , shuttle missions , or theoretical expeditions to the moonlight or Mars get their wearing apparel dirty , they can do one of two thing : keep wearing them until they get too offensive to tolerate or fuddle them away . That ’s because the logistics of clean wearing apparel in a washing machine have proven too tricky and invading given the special living after part in outer space . near all water , including sweat and urine , isrecycled . But supplying water supply to launder filthy clothes demonstrate a design challenge — one the agency has yet to resolve .
Instead , NASA typically equip cosmonaut with a vacuum - sealed wardrobe that can be break for a few days and then discarded double weekly . The unsportsmanlike article of clothing is then put in in a cargo container and leave to burn off up in the Earth ’s atmosphere . For workers on the ISS , this can imply using and then demolish up to 160 pounds of clothing per year .
If you ca n’t imagine wearing apparel arrive advanced tight enough to justify that , consider that astronauts typically stick to a regular seaworthiness schedule of up to two hours a day . The elbow grease - laden clothing can quickly become a nuisance , hence the jettisoning .
“ You work out regularly in place like you do on Earth , ” spaceman Leland MelvintoldMIT Technology Reviewin 2021 , “ but up there you have what I like to call this ‘ run shorts gantlet ’ of used gym shirts and shorts and sports bra just swim around , and you ’re trying to get yourself as small as potential to get through … without having something wipe you in the face or your mouth or your optic . ”
This is neither economic nor especially hardheaded — all that article of clothing takes up a spate of precious space — which is why NASA has long pursued alternatives . In 2013 , the agencyexperimentedwith fabrics treated with antimicrobials , long a holy Holy Grail of combating space funk . ( In 2009 , Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata tire the same duet of bacterium - insubordinate underclothing for a calendar month and did n’t seem to take care . )
In 2021 , NASA partner with Procter and Gamble to see how the company ’s modify Tide laundry detergent ( initially dubbed “ NASA Tide ” ) would hold up in space . Procter and Gamble also launched development on a place - friendly washer and dryer that would apply only minimum amounts of water . In the meantime , NASA is soliciting ideas from students [ PDF ] on system of rules that can clean clothes expeditiously .
The oeuvre looks like ongoing . In 2023 , Procter and Gambledisclosedtheir ware — now call “ Tide Infinity”—was tolerating space well , as were special detergent rub and stain pens . Their washer is said to utilize just 3 gallons of water for 10 pounds of clothes , close to half that of a conventional lode . The unfit tidings ? Astronauts will still have to sip the reclaimed pee .
