Doing the delicates with a blast of microwaves
By Clay Dillow Posted 11.30.2011 at 1:56 pm 11 Comments

The ISS from Endeavour, Feb. 10, 2010 But where will they put the laundry room? NASA

Astronauts and cosmonauts are generally chosen based on a balanced blend of desirable traits: mental acuity and psychological stability (it’s isolated up there), physical fitness, physiological durability, willingness to be strapped to a massive controlled explosion and hurled into an environment that is extremely hostile toward life, etc. But it’s no secret: Right Stuff or no Right Stuff, astronauts stink. There’s simply no good way to stay clean in space.

After well more than a decade in orbit, NASA is finally trying to change that. The agency has commissioned Oregon-based UMPQUA to build a prototype low-power, low-water washing machine that would allow ISS residents to do their laundry. This would probably beat the usual protocol, which mandates that astronauts wear the same undergarments until they can’t stand it and then pack them into a used Progress capsule to be incinerated in the atmosphere (though that’s probably a legitimate fate for underwear that’s been worn to the olfactory breaking point).

Related Articles

As ISS Cooling System Fails, NASA Worries About Post-Shuttle Spare Part Shortage
ISS Receives a Window Onto the Earth
A New ISS Module Named...Colbert?

Tags

Technology, Clay Dillow, clothing, dirty laundry, fabric, international space station, ISS, laundry, laundry tech, Space, textiles
The washing machine isn’t intended to be limited to the ISS however. NASA’s contract asks for a system suitable for “any long-term space mission where resupply logistics preclude routine delivery of fresh crew clothing and removal of disposable clothing articles.” Which means someday, many years from now, someone may just do the first load of whites on the Moon.

But in zero gravity, liquid water is still problematic (especially with all the sensitive electronic equipment and instruments aboard the ISS). The machine proposed by UMPQUA Resarch would use a mix of vapor, air, and microwave rays to clean clothing. The company says achieves a greater softness than previously-tried low-water vacuum pressing systems, and that it could also be useful closer to home at isolated locales or aboard maritime vessels.

[Register]

11 Comments

Link to this comment
Iridon
11/30/11 at 2:26 pm

Cool. Now they won't need women in space anymore.

Link to this comment
pheonix1012
11/30/11 at 3:54 pm

@Iridon

Oh, I can think of a reason for women in space! Uhawhaw Hawhaw!

Laser datalinks for lightning speed internet, 200 watt subwoofers, blue-ray players, and we got some serious quality of living. You can blast Pushin' It by Rick Ross while you run on the C.O.L.B.E.R.T.

Link to this comment
JediMindset
11/30/11 at 4:23 pm

lol!^^^^

we need women in space just in case the earth was suddenly destroyed we would need back up humans to multiply like bunnies which is possible.

_________________
The people of the world only divide into two kinds, One sort with brains who hold no religion, The other with religion and no brain.

- Abu-al-Ala al-Marri

Link to this comment
Sevykeble
11/30/11 at 5:27 pm

Hahaha for comments above. I doubt i'd go up there if I would be stinky but viola problem solved lol!

Link to this comment
DirtySquirties
11/30/11 at 9:30 pm

Oh, c'mon. Women will always be welcome in space. Who else is going to make the sandwiches and provide, uh, "stress relief"? Robots? Yeah, riiiight.

Link to this comment
allstardan
12/01/11 at 7:40 am

If they don't have women up there how will they complete "space docking"? Wink wink...... Google it....

Link to this comment
scientific anomaly
12/01/11 at 9:19 am

i though we werent going up to the station anymore now that Obama cancelled the shuttle missions?

-Knock knock
-Who's there?
-The Doctor.
-Doctor Who?
-Yes

Link to this comment
pheonix1012
12/01/11 at 3:12 pm

@scientific anomaly

BUZZKILL!!!

@allstardan

I believe the proper term is 'station soft dock.' You don't wanna just ram your module up in there. You gotta take your time and line up right so you can find your target. Then comes the ultimate score. ;)

Link to this comment
pheonix1012
12/01/11 at 3:14 pm

@scientific anomaly

If you wanna get it straight, the Bush Administration killed the Shuttle Program in 2003 after the Columbia disaster.

Link to this comment
ANTIcarrot
12/02/11 at 3:15 pm

There was a perfectly functional shower present on Skylab back in the 1970s.
www.robinsonlibrary.com/technology/motor/astronautics/manned/skylab-shower.htm

NASA reinventing the wheel because it's too stupid to check it's own archives for pre-existing solutions? PopSci spreading nonsense because they're too lazy to check the facts? Check, check, and double check.

Dumb article is dumb - and contains almost no information on the machine it's supposed to be about.

Link to this comment
Craigboy
12/02/11 at 6:35 pm

@ANTIcarrot - It a washing machine, not a shower. And believe me NASA knows about the Skylab shower.



June 2013: American Energy Independence

Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.


Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email

Contributing Writers:
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email

circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif