Sharing unwashed undergarments is never a hygienic practice; however, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are required to share not only spacesuits but also their undergarments. The next-to-the-skin piece of clothing is also known as the Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG).
Laundering the LCVG isn’t an option onboard the ISS. Now, technicians working closely with the European Space Agency (ESA) are trying to improve the antimicrobial properties in LCVG materials to make the sharing process hygienic.
Developing bacteria-resistant fibers
In the new project called Biocidal Advanced Coating Technology for Reducing Microbial Activity (Bacterma), the researchers at the ESA have roped in the Vienna Textile Lab, known for producing fabric dyes from bacteria. Compounds originated from these bacteria can make textile fibers more resistant to several types of microbes, according to a statement.
Astronauts aboard the ISS keep themselves clean using no-rinse cleaning solutions and dry shampoo; however washing clothes including underwear would require too much water, which is just not possible, according to NASA. Besides, there’s not enough room on the ISS for astronauts to pack many clothes.
Great for astronauts performing spacewalks
When clothing becomes too smelly for further use, it is either sent back to Earth or packed inside a capsule, which is ejected into space and turns to ash when it hits the atmosphere, NASA says.
LCVGs are only meant to be worn during spacewalks and their job is to keep astronauts cool during long spacewalks in the vacuum of space. The new method “is a useful complement, looking into small bacteria-killing molecules that may be useful for all kinds of spaceflight textiles — including spacesuit interiors,” ESA material engineer Malgorzata Holynska said in the statement.
This initiative can come in handy for future space missions, as there are many planned in the near future. We might soon see the ISS populating with people who aren’t professional astronauts. NASA has partnered with Axiom Space for a mission that will ferry 4 people to the space laboratory by January 2022. The members have paid $55 million for this once-in-a-lifetime trip to space.
