A potential washing machine design uses a combination of air, vapor and microwave rays to clean clothing
Astronauts may have a laundry list of duties while working at the International Space Station (ISS), but laundry certainly isn't one of them.
It's difficult for astronauts who live and work at the ISS to stay fresh and clean. They cannot do laundry, so they're told to wear the same underwear until it's unbearable, and then send the dirty undergarments to be incinerated in the atmosphere via a used Progress capsule. It's much too costly to constantly send new underwear up to the astronauts from Earth.
NASA is looking to change this laundry protocol by placing a washing machine on the ISS as well as other spacecraft for long-term missions. NASA has commissioned UMPQUA Research of Myrtle Creek, Oregon to design the space washing machine.
NASA asked that the washing machine be low-power and “low-water”, because liquid water is an issue in zero gravity with so many sensitive electronics on a spacecraft.
UMPQUA has already proposed a potential winner. Its washing machine uses a combination of air, vapor and microwave rays to clean the clothing. According to UMPQUA, this particular system is capable of making clothes softer than low-water vacuum pressing systems.
In addition to the ISS and other spacecraft, UMPQUA says such a machine could be used on maritime vessels and other isolated areas.
Dirty underwear isn't all NASA's looking to burn up in space. UMPQUA also has a second potential contract with NASA for the disposal of fecal waste via a Highly Efficient Fecal Waste Incinerator. Let the grimy underwear and poo burning begin.
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