How Do Astronauts Carry Out Personal Hygiene?

The low-gravity environment and limited water supply on space shuttles and space stations create special challenges for astronauts. In a low-gravity environment, items and people float unless they are strapped down. Space shuttles and space stations can only hold a limited amount of water. There is not enough available water for showering or brushing teeth. The limited amounts of water must be conserved for drinking and for the mechanical needs of the shuttle or station. In addition to limited water, water acts differently in a low-gravity environment. If water was allowed to run in a shower or in a sink, large droplets of water would float in the air and attach to nearby surfaces, including an astronaut's face and eyes. In order to carry out daily hygiene practices, astronauts have had to learn special ways to keep clean.

Personal Hygiene Kit

Each astronaut is issued a personal hygiene kit. The kit contains all of the items that the astronaut will use to stay clean and groomed. The kit is stored inside of a personal locker, which contains Velcro straps to hold the hygiene items in place so that they do not float away.

Teeth

Astronauts brush their teeth using a regular toothbrush and toothpaste. The only difference is that they do not use water. Instead of rinsing out their mouths with water, they spit the toothpaste into a washcloth.

Shower

Space shuttles and space stations have small waterless shower stalls. There are Velcro straps inside of the shower stall to hold the astronaut inside of the shower. Astronauts wear Velcro-bottomed slippers to attach their feet to a Velcro strip on the bottom of the stall. The astronauts wash their hair and skin using disposable wipes that are specially designed for the space flight. The soap from the wipes does not need to be rinsed off the skin or hair. The wipes are disposed of in a special trash receptacle in the space shuttle or space station. The trash receptacle uses air to pull the waste into an airtight canister.

Some space stations do use small amounts of water in the shower stalls. A small amount of water is released through a hose that is controlled by the astronaut, while air from another hose sucks in the water and brings it to an airtight canister where it will be purified and recycled.

Toilet

Toilets in space shuttles and space stations do not use water to flush. Instead, they use a strong force of air. The air carries the waste, odor and germs to an airtight canister. Each astronaut is provided with a personal urinal. The urinal is shaped differently for men and women. A tube to the toilet attaches the urinal. When an astronaut urinates in the urinal, air evacuates the urine to a special container that purifies and recycles the urine into water.

For bowel movements, the astronauts strap themselves to the toilet. Air evacuates the feces and brings it to an airtight container. Because the toilets in space do not use water, astronauts must wipe out the toilet using a wipe after each use to keep the toilet clean.

Vacuuming

Vacuuming the air is a daily clean-up routine for all astronauts. Floating debris in a space shuttle or space station poses special problems in a no-gravity environment. Dead skin cells, loose hair and food crumbs, float around and eventually become stuck in an astronaut's eyes or in sensitive equipment. To prevent that from happening, the astronauts use a special vacuum to suck up floating debris.

References

• NASA: Living in Space
• John F. Kennedy Space Center: FAQ

Resources

• What is Gravity?