1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,399 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bam Here. The first thing people 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: usually want to know is how astronauts use the toilet 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: in space, but really showering is just as hard, if 5 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 1: not harder. I think about your own shower and the 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: two things that make it so nice plenty of hot 7 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: water and gravity. Water is even more of a valuable 8 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,520 Speaker 1: commodity in space as it is on Earth, and without 9 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: Earth's gravity pulling the water down from the showerhead, along 10 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: your soapy self and down the drain, there's just water 11 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: and SuDS going everywhere. The gravity on the International Space 12 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: Station is about of the gravity on Earth's surface, but 13 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: because it's an orbit, the station is in a continual 14 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: state of free fall, meaning that astronauts experience a continual 15 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: state of weightlessness, also called micro gravity. So engineers have 16 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,800 Speaker 1: had to get clever to keep astronauts clean in At 17 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: the earliest days of NASA, astronauts on the Gemini and 18 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: Apollo missions had very few options. They could take a 19 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:13,400 Speaker 1: sponge bath with a towel, soap and water, but water 20 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,600 Speaker 1: was very limited in those tiny capsules. These guys also 21 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: didn't really change their clothes. When astronauts returned to the 22 00:01:21,160 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: Earth in the nineteen sixties, they were ripe. When the 23 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,319 Speaker 1: space station sky Lab was an orbit, it had a 24 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:32,600 Speaker 1: shower of sorts. Astronauts stepped inside a collapse tube and 25 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 1: strapped their feet in at the bottom, then pulled the 26 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: tube up around them and clipped it in at the top. 27 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: The top and bottom hardly matter when you're in microgravity. 28 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: Did smear liquid soap all over themselves and then rinse 29 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: it off with a mere twelve cups or two point 30 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: eight liters of pressurized water coming through a hose and 31 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,400 Speaker 1: shower head inside the tube. They then had to dry 32 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:57,559 Speaker 1: off with a towel and suction up every single water 33 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: droplet so that it wouldn't get into the equipment didn't 34 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: short something out. From start to finish, the process took 35 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: two hours, so a lot of astronauts skipped it again. 36 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: They tended to be a bit ripe on their return, 37 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: but they did have more clothing to change into. During 38 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: the Space Shuttle era, astronauts used the sponge bath system 39 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: just like the Gemini and Apollo cruise did, but the 40 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: International Space Station that orbits Earth today has improved the 41 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:29,640 Speaker 1: shower situation. All water is supplied in small pouches, and 42 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: any that gets on their skin just kind of sticks 43 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: and blobs. So to clean up, astronauts use rinsless soap 44 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: and rinsless shampoo plus a little water from a pouch. 45 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: They can work in the soap and water with a 46 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: towel and also use the towel to help remove the soap, water, 47 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: and any grime that they pull away. Any moisture that's 48 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: left behind is captured by the Environmental Control and Life 49 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: Support System and recycled, and we mean any moisture. The 50 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: i s S system reclaims every drop of water from 51 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: showering to breathing to peeing, then cleans it and reuses it. 52 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: While we're talking about space hygiene, astronauts, Samantha Christopher Retti 53 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: shared some secrets about microgravity toothbrushing with CBS News. You've 54 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: still got your toothbrush and toothpaste, so you can scrub 55 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: your teeth. But then what do you do with a 56 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: mouthful of minty foam and no sync for spitting. A 57 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: lot of astronauts just swallow the toothpaste, but Christopher Retti 58 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: chose to spit it into a towel. She said, It's 59 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,640 Speaker 1: not the most elegant thing, but you do what you 60 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: have to do. Today's episode was written by Christen hall 61 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: Geisler and produced by Tyler Klang. For more on this 62 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: and lots of other fresh topics, visit how stuff works 63 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For 64 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 65 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.