How Do Astronauts Wash Their Hands In Space?
How Do Astronauts Wash Their Hands In Space?
Hand washing, also known as hand hygiene, is the practice of cleansing one's hands with soap and water to remove harmful substances such as bacteria, viruses, dirt, and grease. Drying hands after washing is essential to prevent recontamination. If soap and water are not readily available, hand sanitiser with at least 60% alcohol can be used instead, as long as the hands are not visibly dirty or greasy. Hand hygiene plays a vital role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases in everyday settings.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends washing hands for at least 20 seconds before and after certain activities, including five critical times throughout the day. These are after using the toilet, after cleaning a child's bottom or changing diapers, before feeding a child, before eating, and before and after preparing food or handling raw meat, fish, or poultry.
In situations where neither hand washing nor hand sanitiser is available, cleaning hands with uncontaminated ash and clean water is an option, although its effectiveness for reducing the spread of viral or bacterial infections is uncertain.[9] However, frequent hand washing can cause skin damage due to dryness. Therefore, moisturizing lotion is often recommended to prevent dry skin, which can increase the risk of transmitting infection.
Challenges of washing hands in space
- Water is expensive to ferry to the International Space Station. The MSFC has developed the ECLSS Water Recycling System (WRS) to recycle waste waters from various sources on the Space Shuttle, including fuel cells, urine, oral hygiene and hand washing, and humidity condensed from the air. The WRS is critical for reducing the amount of water required from Earth to resupply a minimum of four crewmembers for the life of the station, which would be 40,000 pounds per year without recycling. On the space station, hand washing is done using less than one-tenth of the water typically used on Earth.
- Using running water presents a risk to equipment due to low gravity.
How do astronauts wash their hands in space?
For a low water hand wash, try the following:
- Acquire a "No Rinse Body Bath Pouch Assy."
- Use your hands to compress the pouch and create a ball of water.
- Take the water ball and place it in your hands.
- Rub your hands together to spread the water over your skin.
- When finished, dry yourself with a towel.
