Many of us wonder how astronauts can carry out their daily activities in space. For example How do they go to the toilet, how do they drink water, how can they cry?

Our topic and question today are astronauts. How do you take a shower in a zero gravity environment? It seems impossible to even imagine…

In the past, more primitive methods were used.

During the first NASA missions they took sponge baths. Astronaut Mike Massimino He explained:

Taking a bath doesn’t help much. Water droplets stick together due to surface tension. It’s like a sponge bath. You have a cloth, you pour some water on it and when it gets wet, you dry it with a towel. We use waterless shampoo. You’re clean, but you’re not really clean.”

Vacuum showers were also used for a while.

A shower system was used on the Skylab space station in the 1970s. Astronauts were strapped to their feet and showered While water came out of one end with a hose, water was sucked out of the other end via vacuum. However, it was not very functional, because water droplets stuck to the astronauts’ skin.

Today there are slightly different methods.

The water used by astronauts is applied to the body by holding it with a towel and the remaining moisture is removed. “Environmental control and life support system” It is collected and recycled. This way they don’t run out of water. We’ve even explained this system in more detail in our content below:

In other words, we can’t say they can literally shower, but they are designed to take hygiene to the next level. new generation foams and gels they use.

Astronaut Karen Nyberg demonstrates how to wash hair in space:

Technologies are still being developed that will increase astronauts’ comfort in space and make their daily lives easier. Probably there in the future They will be able to comfortably meet all their daily needs.

You can check out more curious topics about life in space: