How do astronauts do laundry? This team of Chinese scientists is making washing machine for humans in space
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "How do astronauts do laundry? This team of Chinese scientists is making washing machine for humans in space")
Representative image Photograph: (Canva)
Have you ever thought about how astronauts do their laundry? They don't. Not yet, at least. But a team of Chinese scientists is making a washing machine that will work in space, and that too without detergent.
One problem that astronauts face in space is dealing with their dirty laundry, because so far, there is no mechanism to make washing clothes in space possible. But a team of Chinese scientists is now working on a solution. The team in Beijing claimed that it is making a compact, detergent-free washing machine that cleans clothes with mist and ozone using almost no water.
The device under process is cube-shaped and is a bit larger than a carry-on suitcase and weighs 12kg (26lbs), the team that developed it from the China Astronaut Research and Training Centre said, South China Morning Post reported. They also claimed that the device uses only 400ml of water per cycle to clean up to 800 grams of clothing.
One thing to note here is, the device does not use any detergent. It uses an ultra-fine mist through ultrasonic atomisation. Writing in the latest issue of Chinese Journal of Space Science, the researchers said their system could reduce the weight of clothing taken on missions.
“For a 15-year station mission, a three-person crew would go through about 3,383kg of clothing,” the paper said.
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“Looking ahead to long-term stays on the moon or trips to Mars, developing on-board laundry technology will be crucial to reducing the huge amount of clothing that needs to be sent up from Earth," it added.
