Astronauts on missions are admired by adults and children alike. But what is life like, especially hygiene, in space? Find out if astronauts can wash their clothes in space.
It’s not the first thing that comes to mind when we think about the daily lives of astronauts, but how do they wash their clothes? Even though these space explorers have an incredible life, they share certain constraints with the billions of human beings on Earth. They spend months in weightlessness, but how do they wash their clothes? The answer may surprise you and we have it from Jean-François Clervoy, a French engineer and astronaut at the European Space Agency.
How do astronauts wash their clothes?
Taking care of themselves, eating, washing, everything becomes complicated in space. The answer for washing clothes may disappoint you, because human ingenuity has not yet found a solution to this problem. In fact, astronauts do not do laundry in space. Forced to do physical exercises daily to endure the months they spend in weightlessness, the members of the ISS must regularly change their clothes to ensure a good level of hygiene on board the International Space Station. When the clothing smells too bad or is too dirty, it is put in a trash can that is expelled from the ISS. The trash can burns on contact with the atmosphere and disappears. The clothes are therefore not washed, they are thrown away.
What solutions ar theree for washing clothes that float in space?
The biggest problem with a washing machine in space is not the fact that the clothes could float. The difficulties are closely linked to water management, as well as the weight and bulk of a washing machine. The problem raised by dirty clothes is a major issue, both ecological and technological. Just to welcome astronauts to the ISS, nearly 68 kilos of clothes are needed and end up burned. This problem must be resolved for the ISS, but also for future missions, including those that will set up bases on Mars. The objective is therefore to find a cleaning solution, and it is to Procter & Gamble, an American multinational, that the challenge has been launched. But to date, the partnership with Procter has not yet borne fruit.
Hygiene in space, how do astronauts shower?
Now that we have studied the question of clothes and underwear in space, last point concerning hygiene: if astronauts wash themselves, could they not wash their clothes while they shower? That is the whole subtlety: astronauts wash themselves using wipes. These special products were sent into space for 6 months to test their ability to withstand these exceptional conditions. It is therefore impossible to wash your clothes, because showering is prohibited, due to water rationing.
