Astronauts' Dirty Laundry problem - solved

NASA wanted space washing machine for ISS ........ NASA have moved at last to tackle the problem of dirty astronauts by commissioning a microwave with air-jets to clean underwear in space. There are no washing machines on the International Space Station so grime-encrusted nauts will wear underwear for 3-4 days and other items of clothing for months, before disposing of the dirty laundry by hurling it into the atmosphere to burn up in old Progress cargo capsules, attempting to wash it in a plastic bag or even - yuck - using it to grow plants in. ...... NASA have selected small disinfectant business UMPQUA to make a prototype of a low-water, low-power washing machine that could enable the laundry to be done 250 miles above the earth's surface - or much further afield, on deep space craft or in bases on the Moon or Mars.

Astronauts' Dirty Laundry - today options

It's been a long day, and your clothes show it. After you change into something more comfortable (and clean), you realize the clothes you just took off could really use a good wash. Unfortunately, there's no washing machine within 250 miles. That's just a typical day of life onboard the International Space Station (ISS). While the Space Station does offer more amenities than did earlier spacecraft, such as the best free gym off the planet, one of the many things it still does not have is a way to wash clothes. So, what do you do with your dirty underwear when you're orbiting the Earth aboard a spacecraft with no washing machine? Here are four choices.

Option One: Wear It Again
This is the most common answer. When you're going on a long trip, it's hard to pack enough clothes, but when you're about to spend several months on the Space Station, it's literally impossible. Packing enough underwear for three members of an ISS Expedition crew to have a clean pair for every day of a 6-month stay would mean launching at least 540 pairs of underwear into orbit. Picture how big your dresser would have to be to hold all that. There's just no room for it on the Station. Plus, when it costs between $5,000 and $10,000 per pound to launch it into space, that becomes some very expensive underwear. As a result, astronauts have to stretch out how long they wear the underwear that they can take with them in order to make it last for their whole stay. On the Russian Space Station Mir, that meant that cosmonauts generally had to wear their underwear for up to a week before it was time to put on a clean pair.

On the International Space Station, things are a little bit better. In his series of "Space Chronicles," ISS Expedition Six Science Officer Don Pettit wrote that he changes his underwear once every 3 or 4 days. That's not quite as bad as it sounds, since clothes don't get dirty as quickly on the Space Station as they do on Earth. Astronauts on the Station are living in a controlled environment, so the temperature stays at a constant, comfortable level. And when everything around you is virtually weightless, you don't have to exert yourself physically the same way you do in the gravity on Earth's surface. However, astronauts do have to spend a substantial amount of time each day exercising so that their bodies don't atrophy in microgravity, so they do still get a workout.

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And, underwear isn't the only item of clothing that gets worn longer than usual. In an interview in February, Pettit said that he was still wearing the same pair of shorts he had been wearing since he first arrived on the Station - in November! Even though they have more shorts to change into, Expedition Six Commander Ken Bowersox also has a favorite pair he chooses to wear frequently. Even though there's no laundry facility on the Station, Bowersox even figured out a way to wash his shorts using a plastic bag.

Option Two: Turn It Into A Shooting Star
When it's time for the Space Station crew to return to Earth at the end of their stay, the Space Shuttle usually serves as their moving van to carry them back home. In addition to the ISS crew and their personal effects they are bringing back with them, the Shuttle also has to carry home science experiments that have been completed at the Station so that new ones can be performed there. As a result, there's not a lot of free space on the Shuttle for the ride home, and so nobody wants to use that space to carry several months worth of dirty underwear. So what happens to it, then?

To make sure that the ISS crew has enough food, water, and other necessities for their stay in space, the Russian Space Agency launches unmanned Progress ships to carry supplies to the Station. The Progress is a nonreusable spacecraft, good for a one-way trip to the Space Station. Once it is there and the Station crew has unloaded the supplies, the Progress is then loaded up with trash, including dirty laundry. Since only a limited number of Progress crafts are sent to ISS each year, the dirty clothes can sit around on the Station for a while before they can be disposed of. The Progress is then undocked from the Station and "de-orbited," placed on a course that causes it to burn up in Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.

Option Three: Grow Plants With It
When Science Officer Pettit recently decided to try and grow some tomato and basil seeds he had aboard the Station, he had a problem. Since there's no soil, he had to figure out some other way to grow the plants. In his Space Chronicles, Pettit wrote, "To construct my planter, a spherical core is needed. An old pair of underwear worked well. We have supplies on Station sufficient to change our underwear perhaps once every 3 to 4 Plants being grown on the ISS. days, so I figured there might be a few nutrients in there as well. An old pair of underwear was folded into a sphere and held in place with a few well-placed stitches using needle and thread from our sewing kit." For the outside of the planter, he sewed some Russian space toilet paper to the outer surface of the underwear. "This toilet paper is not like what you normally think of as toilet paper," Pettit wrote. "It consisted of two layers of coarsely woven gauze, 4 by 6 inches in dimension sewn together at the edges with a layer of brown tissue sandwiched in-between. It works very well for its intended purpose. It also makes a wonderful sprouter." After Pettit solved a problem that was causing the seeds to stay too cold to germinate, the seeds sprouted in the underwear-toilet paper planter within 2 days.
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Option Four: Feed It To Bacteria
This one isn't really an option right now, but it might be in the future. While the Mir station was still in orbit, Russian scientists were already working on a new solution to the problem of dirty underwear being stored on the Station for months at a time. The scientists began designing a system that would use bacteria to digest the astronaut's cotton and paper underpants. The researchers said that it was even possible that the methane gas given off when the bacteria ate the underwear could be used to help power the spacecraft. The system would even be able to be used to dispose of some other waste on the Station, as well. While the system was never completed for use on Mir (researchers said it could take up to a decade to find the right combination of bacteria), it may be an option for people living in space in the future.

So while astronauts have a well-deserved reputation for being smart, well-educated, hardworking, physically fit, sociable, dedicated people, now you know their dirty little secret-despite their mothers' advice, they don't always wear clean underwear.
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NASA Challenge: Simple Microgravity Laundry System - Reward: $25,000

This Challenge Seeks a new approach to cleaning fabrics of all sorts (towels, clothing, socks, under garments, etc) in space. Though the design of an entire flight ready laundry machine for space is beyond the scope of this Challenge. The objective is to design key subassemblies of a new system that would be effective within the unique constraints of a space vehicle operating in micro-gravity. Additional detail and pictures can be found within the Challenge.

This is a Theoretical Challenge, which requires a written proposal with diagrams and calculations only. The Solver will propose a laundry system that meets the requirements and justify it with a detailed description and relevant references.
The costs of sending anything into space - between $5,000 and $10,000 per 500g - limits the amount of clean knickers that can be sent up in the first place.
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Solutions

NASA have selected small disinfectant business UMPQUA to make a prototype of a low-water, low-power washing machine that could enable the laundry to be done 250 miles above the earth's surface - or much further afield, on deep space craft or in bases on the Moon or Mars. The new NASA research contract is to produce:

Flight Hardware for long duration human missions beyond low Earth orbit ... The system is suitable for use in any long term space mission where resupply logistics preclude routine delivery of fresh crew clothing and removal of disposable clothing articles. While the proposed laundry system is microgravity compatible, the system will be completely functional in reduced gravity environments.

The machine proposed by Oregon-based company would use jets of vapour, air and microwave rays to clean clothes. The proposal indicate that it achieves "greatly enhanced softness" over the traditional low-water vacuum pressing methods.

The laundry microwaves could be useful on Earth too the manufacturers suggest, saying they'd work well in isolated military outposts, research stations and on ships.

The machines proposed by Oregon-based company

PROPOSAL TITLE:     Advanced Microgravity Compatible, Integrated Laundry System
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
The Advanced Microgravity Compatible, Integrated Laundry (AMCIL) is a microgravity compatible liquid / liquid vapor, two-phase laundry system with water jet agitation and vacuum assisted drying. Umpqua Research Company previously developed a complete microgravity compatible Single Phase Laundry System (SPLS). Single-phase operation during the wash cycle facilitated microgravity compatible fluidics and eliminated problems associated with foams. Pulsed water jets were utilized to agitate the clothing. Drying was achieved with microwave assisted vacuum drying followed by a tumble cycle that greatly enhanced softness in the previously vacuum pressed clothing. Tumbling was achieved by an array of three air jets, two to generate a cyclonic effect and a third to induce tumbling by blowing perpendicular to the plane of rotation. This concept was successfully demonstrated during a KC-135 microgravity simulation flight. The proposed AMCIL concept will build on the SPLS technology and incorporate key design improvements to reduced water requirements and lower power consumption. Specific advancements include a redesigned wash cycle that consumes less water and reduces power demand. The Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of the microgravity compatible liquid / liquid vapor, two-phase washing concept in a laboratory scale system. A complete, automated prototype unit that incorporates the system parameters established during the Phase I tests will be designed, fabricated, and tested during the Phase II program.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The NASA application for the AMCIL system will be as Flight Hardware for deployment in support of long duration human missions beyond low Earth orbit where reductions in replacement clothing will lower the ESM for crew accommodations. The AMCIL system is suitable for use in any long term space mission where resupply logistics preclude routine delivery of fresh crew clothing and removal of disposable clothing articles. While the proposed laundry system is microgravity compatible, the system will be completely functional in reduced gravity environments. Specifically, the proposed laundry technology will be suited to deployment on the Lunar and Mars surfaces, at Lagrange points, and onboard long range transit vehicles.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
AMCIL has potential utility in any application where long term habitation is coupled with limited access. Some obvious examples include isolated military outposts, research stations, naval vessels, research vessels, and commercial ships. Each of these installations feature similar restrictions on available clean water, energy, and waste storage. The ability to wash and reuse clothing with equipment that consumes small amounts of these valuable resources will reduce resupply requirements and improve quality of life.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

• Machines/Mechanical Subsystems
• Remediation/Purification
• Waste Storage/Treatment

PROPOSAL TITLE:     Highly Efficient Fecal Waste Incinerator
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
Volume reduction is a critical element of Solid Waste Management for manned spacecraft and planetary habitations. To this end, the proposed fecal waste incinerator may be utilized to completely mineralize feces to harmless inorganic substances such as CO2 and water. These products may then be rerouted to the ECLSS processes for hydrogen CO2 reduction to form water and water electrolysis to yield oxygen and hydrogen. Fecal oxidation takes place in two coupled reactors utilizing advanced heat exchanger technology, one to incinerate the feces and the second to oxidize incineration products. Little energy input is required due to the use of fecal matter heat of combustion in combination with efficient heat exchange. Feces are incinerated immediately after collection, eliminating the need for waste stabilization that would otherwise be required to eliminate offensive odors and control microbial growth. All evolved gases including incompletely oxidized volatile organics are passed through a catalytic reactor, ensuring complete combustion to avoid loading the Trace Contaminant Control System. This innovative system is light, compact, simple, energy efficient, contains few moving parts, is virtually maintenance free, and requires little astronaut time.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The NASA application of this technology will be as Flight Hardware for deployment in support of future long duration manned missions. The primary application will be for eliminating fecal waste produced during manned space operations, although this technology may also be applied toward incineration of other solid wastes such as non-edible, plant mass produced by agricultural cultivation in space habitats. In addition, concentrated organic vapors produced by other solid waste treatment processes may be efficiently oxidized by utilizing this novel approach.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
Non-NASA applications of this technology include the efficient incineration of medical wastes to insure sterilization and prevent the spread of pathogenic microorganisms. Another attractive application of this technology will be the incineration of toilet wastes at remote locations, on board ships, or in third world countries where in particular pathogens are commonly transmitted via fecal waste.

TECHNOLOGY TAXONOMY MAPPING (NASA's technology taxonomy has been developed by the SBIR-STTR program to disseminate awareness of proposed and awarded R/R&D in the agency. It is a listing of over 100 technologies, sorted into broad categories, of interest to NASA.)

• Essential Life Resources (Oxygen, Water, Nutrients)
• Remediation/Purification
• Waste Storage/Treatment