How do astronauts wash themselves on the ISS? How astronauts wash in space. How they wash on the ISS.
Get the status of a space tourist. Pay $20 million for the “ticket.” Pass a medical examination and special pre-flight training. Enjoy your flight.
A test cosmonaut is the commander and pilot of a spacecraft. Take-off, the flight itself, supervising the operation of systems and the crew - all this is the task of the test cosmonaut. Test cosmonauts are recruited from among military pilots. If this is the role that appeals to you, consider enrolling in a college that trains pilots for the Air Force. During your studies, earn yourself a large number of missions. Your track record must be impeccable. Try to develop the quality of a leader in yourself. After studying, submit an application asking to be accepted into the cosmonaut corps. Attach a reference from the military unit to it. You must have excellent vision, ideal health and no bad habits. The best of the best get into the squad.
An astronaut engineer maintains the technical systems of a spacecraft. It is he who carries out, if necessary, repair work during the flight. If this role is attractive to you, go to any university and get a higher technical engineering education. Work in your specialty for at least 3 years and apply to join the cosmonaut corps. Most of these specialists are traditionally recruited from the Moscow Aviation Institute and the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
An astronaut-researcher is engaged in work of a medical and biological nature. He is also a doctor who, if necessary, provides medical assistance to crew members. One of its tasks is to conduct various experiments on living organisms under weightless conditions. If the role of an astronaut-researcher is attractive, get a higher medical or biological education. In addition, personally write a couple of scientific papers. It’s very good if you have a defended candidate’s dissertation in your hands.
If you are applying for the role of test cosmonaut or cosmonaut engineer, submit an application to the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation. If you decide to become a research cosmonaut, apply to the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems.
During the height of the “space race” between the USSR and the USA, newspapers regularly filled with headlines about astronauts and ongoing flights. Now the situation has changed: few know how things are in space, and whether astronauts continue to explore the Universe. However, despite the high cost of space flights, people continue to fly into space.
Russia, the USA and China are the three that were sent into manned spacecraft. The famous American Shuttle program, launched in 1981, was closed in 2011. The reusable spacecraft served their purpose and were given to national museums. However, America is not giving up. Its astronauts are still ready to fly into space, just not on their ships. They have already bought their seats and will conquer the vastness of the Universe on the ships of the Russian Federation.
To fly into space, you need to contact Roscosmos or directly the representative office of Space Adventures. There you can get complete information about the trip. The cost of traveling into space will cost an average of 30-40 million dollars. Going into space will cost another 15 million USD.
Next, you will need to undergo a full medical examination. Some chronic diseases, blood pressure problems, etc. may become an obstacle to flying. After all, flying into space is associated with certain overloads.
If the medical examination is successful, the space tourist begins preparations for the flight in Star City under the guidance of experienced professionals. The date and individual program of stay in space is approved individually.
Few people can afford such a high cost of a tour to space. Therefore, a program of suborbital flights on a commercial basis is currently being developed.
Since June 2008, tickets for the SpaceShipTwo ship have already begun to be sold. The cost of one ticket is about 5 million rubles or $200,000. The first flights are scheduled for 2013.
How did astronauts wash themselves before?
The first space flight, performed by Yuri Gagarin, lasted a little more than an hour and a half. Therefore, he did not have to take care of the bath in orbit. Currently, the average mission to the space station lasts about six months. Therefore, the designers of space stations had to take care of the soul for the astronauts. The first shower cabins were installed at the Salyut-7 and MIR orbital stations.
Cosmic Shower. Cosmonauts V.V. Lebedev and A.N. Berezovaya
These devices, according to the astronauts, were “a very funny attraction,” and washing in them was a whole ritual that lasted several hours (especially if you were not used to it) and ended with the laughter of the entire crew. The shower stall was made in the form of a cylinder from thick translucent plastic. Before getting into this plastic cylinder, the astronaut put on swimming goggles and took into his mouth a special tube into which air was supplied from the outside. Then the shower was hermetically sealed and the “fun” began. Unlike a regular shower, there were no streams of water pouring down from above, but rather a very fine mist of water was sprayed. And under the astronaut’s feet a very powerful vacuum cleaner was working, which pulled down water dust. This is done so that the air flow shapes the direction of the water. In conditions of weightlessness, water by itself does not flow down from a person, but simply sticks around him and does not move anywhere. In order for the air flow to wash away water from a person, the vacuum cleaner under the astronaut’s feet must have very high power. It was not possible to install a powerful vacuum cleaner on the space station, so in order to get rid of water on their bodies, the astronauts had to shake themselves off, just like dogs do after a bath. Then the soap solution ended up on the inner walls of the shower, and from there it flowed down to the vacuum cleaner. The procedure is repeated several times, each time with increasingly pure water. The astronaut is covered in water, he rubs it over his body, shakes himself off again, again the vacuum cleaner removes the liquid from the walls, and all over again. If you're tired of shaking yourself off, it means you're already clean.
How do astronauts wash themselves now?
On the currently functioning international space station, there is no shower at all. This, of course, does not mean that astronauts do not wash for six months. Instead of washing with water, astronauts use wet wipes specially made for them, which they use to wipe their skin daily. It is very important that the liquid with which the napkins are soaked does not contain alcohol (according to fire safety regulations) and is odorless, because even the most pleasant smell can become disgusting in a few weeks. You cannot take regular shampoos to wash your hair on a flight, since it will not be possible to wash off the foam in zero gravity. Our cosmonauts wash their hair with a special composition “Aelita”. It creates virtually no foam, and after washing your hair you just need to dry it with a towel. So everyone is very happy.
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The article talks about how astronauts go to the toilet in space and take a shower, as well as on what principle the space sewerage system and water supply system are designed.
Space
55 years ago, what many scientists dreamed of happened - man made the first space flight, escaping the boundaries of our planet.
Later, when it became clear that it was quite possible and necessary to deploy research stations in Earth’s orbit, all space powers began their design and development. However, due to the high cost of such projects, only the USA and the USSR were able to complete them. And later the ISS, the international space station, was created. It will soon celebrate twenty years of service.
But the ISS is far from the first created for long-term human habitation, which means it has everything necessary for a relatively comfortable life for astronauts and maintaining their vital functions, including a hygiene unit. And which can often be heard from ignorant people: how do astronauts go to the toilet in space? This is what we will talk about in this article.
Hygiene
This topic rarely comes up in reports about astronauts, science films or literature, even science fiction. In works of art, inconvenient details are often suppressed. You can often find books about how brave space explorers from the future spend dozens of hours in combat or scientific spacesuits. Despite the sensitivity of the topic, a space toilet is a complex technological device, the principle and design of which were developed by the best minds in engineering. And this is not without reason.
The thing is that orbital stations and spaceships have not yet been able to create, and the problem of space toilets became acute at the dawn of space exploration. Indeed, in the absence of gravity, human vital activity will simply scatter across the compartments and can cause a short circuit or clog the air circulation system.
So how do astronauts go to the toilet in space? In fact, it's simple. Toilets are designed on the principle of a vacuum cleaner - waste is drawn in through negative air pressure and then enters the recycling system. But let's look at their device in more detail.
Installation of ISS toilets
A bathroom on an orbital station is a very important device, along with air exchange or thermoregulation systems. If it fails, further use of the station will become impossible. True, such situations have never happened before, and the astronauts have spare compact toilet devices. But the danger lies in the fact that in space it is impossible to open the porthole, throw out all the waste and ventilate the room from the unpleasant smell. So let's look at the question of how astronauts go to the toilet in space in more detail.
There are three bathrooms on the ISS, and two of them are Russian-made. Their toilets are suitable for crew members of both sexes. As already mentioned, they work on the principle of a vacuum cleaner, drawing all waste into the cleaning system and preventing it from scattering throughout the station’s compartments. And then they enter the processing system cycle, where they are used to produce drinking and process water with oxygen.
Of course, the sanitary and hygienic block on the ISS and its toilet are very different from those on Earth. First of all, by the presence of fastenings for the legs (so that the astronaut does not fly away ahead of time), as well as special holders for the thighs. And instead of water, they use a vacuum, which draws in all the waste. After the cleaning cycle, the remaining waste is collected in special containers and, as they are filled, moved to one of the cargo ships for further disposal. So now we know how astronauts go to the toilet in space. But what if the astronaut needs to go to the toilet when he is in the spacecraft and not at the station?
Spaceship toilets
Launching a spacecraft into space and docking it with the ISS is a very difficult task. Sometimes astronauts have to sit in a rocket ready for launch for quite a long time, and the docking and maneuvering process drags on for tens of hours. Naturally, no normal person can endure so much without going to the toilet. Therefore, before launch, astronauts put on special diapers under their spacesuits. The structure of the spacecraft is such that it is impractical to spend space on creating a separate, even the simplest toilet.
If you plan to spend a long time on board the ship, as was the case in the early years, when space stations did not exist, then special toilet devices are used - flexible hoses with nozzles in the form of funnels. Negative pressure in them creates air draft, solid waste is collected in garbage cans, and liquid waste is thrown outside the ship.
How do astronauts wash?
Initially, space explorers did without water procedures. They used wet wipes. But when the first space stations were built and launched into orbit, they were all equipped with showers. The air circulation system is closed, and it is difficult to get rid of foreign odors, so astronauts need to monitor hygiene. Psychological comfort also plays an important role - after all, no one likes being dirty. So how do astronauts wash?
There are no separate showers at stations and especially on ships. And practice has shown that their construction is impractical. For washing, a special easy-to-rinse shampoo, wet wipes and tubes of water are used. Because of this, it sticks quite firmly to people’s bodies, and then they simply wipe it off with towels. Of course, this cannot be compared with a real shower, but still, this method also helps cope well with the natural pollution of the human body.
"Skylab"
This space station remained in orbit for about 6 years, and then was sent by operators into the Earth's atmosphere, where it burned up safely. True, not completely, and some of its elements still reached the surface. This station is notable for the presence of a large amount of free space and a shower.
A modern space station is a place where every available corner of space is used. But Skylab was distinguished precisely by its internal dimensions. They were such that the astronauts, while charging, easily flew from one wall to another and generally noted that there was a lot of free internal volume. It was at this station that there was a shower, naturally modernized for conditions without gravity.
"World"
There was also a shower at the Mir station. But the modern ISS space station does not have it, since taking a shower in orbit is not the same as taking a bath on Earth. The process was greatly delayed due to various difficulties, and the astronauts rarely used the device, preferring to wipe it down with damp towels. In addition, there is no dirt at the station, and therefore the skin gets dirty much less than on Earth.
Toilet and USSR
Everyone probably knows the name of the first cosmonaut in human history. But not everyone knows the name of the second one. He was the American Alan Shepard. And the first toilet problems among our former rivals in the space race began on May 5, 1961, before the launch of the Shepard rocket.
Alan, who by that time had been in the spacesuit for more than 8 hours, told the operator that he really needed to visit the toilet. But it was impossible to interrupt preparations for the launch, move the service tower to the ship, and then start preparing again. Such a scenario would lead to the flight being postponed. As a result, Shepard had to relieve himself directly into his suit. Engineers were afraid that this would lead to a short circuit and failure of most of the telemetry sensors, but fortunately, everything worked out.
But Gagarin’s flight was better planned. And although it lasted only 108 minutes, his ship was equipped with a special toilet device in the form of flexible hoses with funnels into which waste was sucked. True, it is not known whether Gagarin used it.
Conclusion
As you can see, a space toilet is a very important device, without which it would be impossible for astronauts to remain in Earth orbit for a long time. Despite their apparent simplicity, very large sums were spent on their design and implementation. For example, the toilet that the Americans ordered from Russia for their segment of the ISS cost them $19 million. Well, during the time we are forced to use special diapers, since sometimes work outside of ships or the ISS lasts for many hours.
And let us recall an unappetizing detail with which astronauts like to surprise overly impressionable journalists: all waste enters the recycling system, where they are converted into water and oxygen for further consumption. But any serious activity requires sacrifice, and astronauts are ready to go to great lengths to achieve their dreams.
A shower in the usual sense in conditions of weightlessness makes no sense - the water in it would not fall down, but would fly freely in all directions. Therefore, astronauts are forced to use other methods to monitor their own hygiene.
Instead of a shower on the ISS, there are wet towels that are moistened immediately before use. Astronauts dry themselves with them, and then the used towels are sent back to Earth on space trucks.
Spread water on yourself
Samantha Cristoforetti spoke about another method. Thus, in conditions of weightlessness, water is attracted to the skin due to the effect of surface attraction. You can squeeze a little water from the tube onto the skin, then squeeze out a little soap, mix them with your hand and, distributing them over the skin, wash.
It is impossible to thoroughly wash your hair on the ISS, so astronauts use dry shampoo. The hair is slightly wetted, then a small amount of shampoo is distributed over it and massaged into the skin, after which it is wiped dry with a towel.
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Not a drop by!
It is noteworthy that not a drop of water that astronauts use for hygiene procedures is wasted. The towels are dried near the ventilation grilles, the liquid evaporates and enters the ventilation system, where it is condensed and cleaned, and then enters the recuperator, where it is packaged in bags for reuse.
I've always been interested space and everything connected with it. Recently I was walking around the city and accidentally came across a booklet that talked about some museum of cosmonautics. Of course, I became interested in what this place was, and I headed to the address indicated in the booklet. An hour later I was already standing at the entrance to the museum with the tickets I had purchased.
Of course, it all started with the guide's stories about the first cosmonauts, spaceships and so on, but after some time we came to a very interesting question, which, by the way, has interested me for quite some time, the question about hygiene of astronauts during a long stay in orbit.
How the astronauts washed themselves
It turned out that earlier, in old models of Russian spaceships, there was a shower cabin. It was designed very intricately. To make its use possible, the astronauts had to carry out a number of actions, before finally taking a shower. And you the process went as follows:
One can hardly call such a washing process pleasant and convenient, so after a couple of years space shower cabins were dismantled.
How do astronauts wash themselves now?
Of course, even after the abolition of showers in spaceships, the question about hygiene of astronauts remained open, because some of them have to spend 3 or more months in outer space.
Subsequently, Russian scientists were special cleaning wipes were invented, which astronauts can carry out hygiene procedures. The napkins are textile, which impregnated with a special disinfectant composition. It's interesting that Russian cosmonauts use hygiene products, which are developed specifically for space flights, but Americans use napkins in space that can be bought at any pharmacy.
Concerning washing hair in space, then a special one has also been developed for this leave-in shampoo. Can you imagine how convenient it is? Apply shampoo to your hair, comb it and you're done!
