The Final Frontier: How Do You Wash Dirty Underwear in Space?

Laundry the Final Frontier

Since there are no washing machines on the International Space Station, astronauts often wear the same underwear for three or four days before disposing of it by hurtling it back towards Earth where, hopefully, it burns up on reentry.

The costs of sending anything in space currently range from between $2500 and $5000 per pound, so fresh underwear hasn’t been a priority, until now.

According to The Register, NASA has asked the small Oregon company UMPQUA to build a prototype washing machine that could function in space. The machine will use jets of water vapor, compressed air and microwave radiation to clean clothes.

Photo uses parts of one by Ljupco Smokovski/ShutterStock.

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