Kholood Omar: By

There are many challenges associated with staying on the International Space Station, especially paying attention to basic needs such as food, clothing, and beverages, and even personal hygiene, as NASA astronaut Karen Nieberg points out, bathing is one of these challenges. .

Lack of gravity draws water from the bottom of the shower head, lack of gravity causes water and foam to spread everywhere, and astronauts face a shortage of hot water, so engineers are quick to keep astronauts clean, according to a post on the “How the Stuff Works” website.

In the early days of NASA in space, astronauts on the Gemini and Apollo missions had special options for bathing, including a sponge bath with a towel, soap and water, but the water in those small pills was very limited.

While the Skylab space station was in orbit, bathing was difficult for two hours, with a custom shower, where the astronauts climbed into a tube and attached their feet to the bottom, then pulled the tube over their body, and then applied the soap. Fluid throughout the body before rinsing with just 12 cups (2.8 liters) of pressurized water flowing through the hose.

In addition to sucking up every drop of water and causing damage somewhere before spreading in the vehicle, the pioneers were forced to dry their bodies with a towel, and because of the difficulty of the matter they only changed clothes without bathing, so they had more clothes to change.

During the space shuttle era, astronauts used a sponge bath, as did the crew of Gemini and Apollo, but today the International Space Station, which orbits the Earth, has improved the condition of the shower, providing water in small bags so that any water that comes in contact with the astronauts’ skin at the cleaning points will not be used, and the air will form. In addition, it does not prevent astronauts from taking the water they use with a towel.

Residual moisture is also captured through the environmental control system, life support, and recycling, as the International Space Station recovers every drop of water, from bathing to urination, to re-cleaning and reuse.