Can Astronauts Wash Their Clothes In Space?
Can Astronauts Wash Their Dirty Clothes In Space?
Living on the International Space Station (ISS) can be challenging in many ways, including the absence of a washing machine within 250 miles. Although the Space Station offers more amenities than earlier spacecraft, such as the best free gym off the planet, it still does not have a way to wash clothes. Therefore, astronauts have to stretch out how long they wear the underwear that they can take with them in order to make it last for their whole stay. As a result, one of the most common options is to wear it again. For example, in his series of "Space Chronicles," ISS Expedition Six Science Officer Don Pettit wrote that he changes his underwear once every 3 or 4 days. Clothes don't get dirty as quickly on the Space Station as they do on Earth, as astronauts are living in a controlled environment, so the temperature stays at a constant, comfortable level. However, astronauts do have to spend a substantial amount of time each day exercising so that their bodies don't atrophy in microgravity, so they still get a workout.
So despite astronauts' esteemed reputation for intelligence, education, diligence, physical fitness, sociability, and devotion, they harbor a dirty secret: contrary to their mothers' admonishments, they may not always wear clean underwear.
Option 1: Turn Dirty Laundry Into A Shooting Star
When the Space Station crew returns to Earth at the end of their stay, the Space Shuttle usually serves as their moving van to carry them back home. There is not a lot of free space on the Shuttle, so it is not a good idea to carry several months worth of dirty underwear. To dispose of the dirty laundry, the Russian Space Agency launches unmanned Progress ships to carry supplies to the Station. Once the supplies are unloaded, the Progress is then loaded up with trash, including dirty laundry. The Progress is then undocked from the Station and "de-orbited," placed on a course that causes it to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
Option 2: Grow Plants With The Dirty Laundry
A third option is to grow plants with the dirty laundry. For example, Science Officer Pettit recently decided to try and grow some tomato and basil seeds he had aboard the Station. Since there's no soil, he had to figure out some other way to grow the plants. He folded an old pair of underwear into a sphere and held it in place with a few well-placed stitches using needle and thread from their sewing kit. For the outside of the planter, he sewed some Russian space toilet paper to the outer surface of the underwear. After Pettit solved a problem that was causing the seeds to stay too cold to germinate, the seeds sprouted in the underwear-toilet paper planter within.
Option 3: Bring Dirty Laundry Home
Finally, astronauts can also bring the dirty laundry back to Earth for washing. This option is used only in rare cases when the dirty laundry needs to be returned for scientific research or in case of emergency.
Option 4: Feed Dirty Laundry to Bacteria
Currently, this option is unavailable, but it may become viable in the future. As the Mir station orbited, Russian scientists were already devising a solution to the challenge of storing soiled undergarments on the Station for extended periods. They began developing a system that would utilize bacteria to break down the cotton and paper underpants worn by astronauts. The researchers even speculated that the methane gas produced during the bacterial digestion process could potentially serve as a spacecraft power source. Furthermore, the system could potentially dispose of other waste on the Station. Although the system was never implemented on Mir due to the need for an optimal combination of bacteria that could take up to a decade to find, it could be a possibility for space inhabitants in the future.
