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Living aboard the International Space Station presents numerous obstacles, with showering being one of the trickiest, as NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg has pointed out. NASAImportant Points to Remember
- Showering in space is tough due to limited access to hot water and microgravity, which prevents water from flowing as it does on Earth.
- On early NASA missions, astronauts used sponge baths because of water shortages, while Skylab introduced a cumbersome tube shower system that many astronauts opted out of.
- On the ISS, astronauts rely on waterless soap and pouches of water for cleaning, with every drop, from showering to breathing moisture, being captured and recycled by the Environmental Control and Life Support System.
The first question most people have is how astronauts pee in space. But honestly, showering might be just as challenging — if not more so. Think about your own shower and the two main comforts: an abundance of hot water and gravity.
It's understandable that hot water is scarce in space, but why is gravity such a big deal? Without Earth's gravity pulling water down from the showerhead, along your soapy body, and into the drain, water and suds would go everywhere. The gravity aboard the International Space Station is about 90 percent of Earth's gravity (this is called microgravity), so engineers have had to get creative to keep astronauts clean.
In the early days of NASA, astronauts on the Gemini and Apollo missions had very limited options. They could only take sponge baths with a towel, soap, and a little water, but the supply was scarce in those cramped capsules. And, for the most part, these astronauts didn’t change clothes either. By the time they returned to Earth in the 1960s, they were, well, pretty smelly.
When Skylab was orbiting, it had something like a shower. Astronauts would step inside a collapsed tube and secure their feet at the “bottom” (top and bottom hardly matter in microgravity). Then they'd pull the tube up and fasten it at the “top.” Afterward, they’d cover themselves with liquid soap and rinse it off with just 12 cups (2.8 liters) of pressurized water sprayed through a hose and showerhead inside the tube.
After that, they had to dry off with a towel and use a suction device to capture every last water droplet before it could damage equipment. The whole process took two hours, so many astronauts decided to skip it. They returned to Earth “ripe,” but at least they had more clothes to change into.
During the era of the space shuttle, astronauts had to rely on sponge baths, a system that was also used by the Gemini and Apollo crews. However, the current setup aboard the International Space Station, which orbits Earth, has enhanced the way astronauts bathe. Water is dispensed in small pouches, and any water that lands on their skin stays in place in small blobs. To clean themselves, astronauts use rinseless soap, a bit of water from the pouches, and shampoo.
Similar to the Skylab days, any water astronauts use has to be collected with a towel. The remaining moisture is captured by the Environmental Control and Life Support System, which recycles it. And by moisture, we mean every single drop—whether it's from showering, breathing, or even urinating. The ISS system processes all this water, purifying it for reuse.
Speaking of hygiene in space, astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti shared some interesting facts about brushing your teeth in zero gravity. Astronauts still have their toothbrushes and toothpaste, so they can clean their teeth just like on Earth. But what do you do with that mouthful of minty foam when there's no sink to spit into? Many astronauts simply swallow the toothpaste, but Cristoforetti opted to spit it into a towel. As she put it, "It's not the most elegant thing, but you do what you have to do."
