The question of personal hygiene of astronauts in space is quite interesting. Earlier, in the days of the USSR, in order to wash his body, an astronaut had to spend about two hours. Now this procedure takes an order of magnitude less time. How do astronauts wash themselves in space?
The first flight into space was carried out by the world famous Yuri Gagarin. But his "business trip" lasted no more than an hour and a half. Therefore, no one even thought about hygiene products that can be used in space. After Yuri Gagarin, astronauts increasingly began to study intergalactic space, but for a long time the travels were short. When space travel began to stretch for six months or more, space station designers and engineers began to think about creating a soul. After all, not washing for six months is not an option.
How cosmonauts swam in space during the USSR and perestroika
The first shower cabins appeared at the Salyut-7 and MIR space stations. These were shower cabins, similar in shape to modern cabins that are installed in apartments. But washing in them was very funny, in its essence, it resembled some kind of attraction. The booths for washing the body and the head were in the form of a cylinder, which was made of durable but translucent plastic. In order to enter the shower-cylinder, the astronaut had to put on swimming goggles, and into his mouth he had a tube through which air was supplied from the outside. After the cockpit was closed, water dust began to spray from above, with which the astronauts washed themselves. But the peculiarity was that a powerful vacuum cleaner worked at the bottom of the shower stall, which sucked in this mist. This was also necessary in order for the air droplets to be directed exactly downward, since without this vacuum cleaner they would stick to the astronaut due to the process of weightlessness. But the vacuum cleaner could not cope 100% with its task, so the astronaut had to shake off the adhering drops, like a dog after bathing. After this procedure, the soap solution ended up on the walls of the shower stall, after which it was pulled down by the air stream that came from the vacuum cleaner. Such bathing took not an hour, but two or more, since the procedure of shaking off drops from the body was repeated until the soap solution completely disappeared from the astronaut's body.
How astronauts swim in space these days
Nowadays, there are no showers at space stations at all, so the issue of personal hygiene is solved differently: with wet wipes. But napkins are not just ordinary wet wipes from the store, but specially made for astronauts. The liquid with which the wipes are soaked does not contain alcohol, in order to comply with fire safety rules. In addition, wet wipes are produced without any smell, because even a pleasant and delicate smell will soon become unpleasant for an astronaut, because they need to wash with them not for a day or two, but six months or more - as long as the space trip will last. The cosmonauts' heads are washed with a specially developed composition "Aelita", which does not create foam, while flawlessly cleanses the scalp and hair.
