Humans would need to figure out housing, air, water, and food if they were to live on Mars. What about the laundry, though? NASA and Procter & Gamble, the creator of the Tide laundry brand, are collaborating to find out how to do laundry in space.
“Tide has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to help in the development of laundry detergent solutions and technology development in space,” P&G announced in a statement on Tuesday. “Under the agreement, NASA may test and study Tide cleaning solutions in space.”
NASA and Tide will do some tests on the International Space Station before moving on to laundromats on Mars. On the International Space Station, there are no washing machines. At the moment, astronauts wear a piece of clothing until it becomes unclean, then discard it. Regular resupply trips keep astronauts sanitary, but that won’t be an option for far-flung locations like Mars.
“Best tide in the Universe”
P&G wants to address water scarcity, material safety, and compatibility with life support systems. On the International Space Station, for example, liquids (including pee) are recycled into drinkable water.
“Tide has developed a fully degradable detergent, specifically designed for use in space to solve malodor, cleanliness, and stain removal problems for washable items used during deep space missions while being suitable for use in a closed-loop water system,” said P&G.
P&G is preparing for operations on the International Space Station in 2022. It will include evaluating the stability of cleaning and stain-removal components in ISS conditions. The organization is also working on a washer-dryer combo. It might be useful on NASA’s Artemis moon mission and future Mars missions where low gravity is a concern.
NASA and P&G aren’t the only ones attempting to address the problem of dirty clothing. Antimicrobial textiles are being researched by the European Space Agency for use in spacesuit underpants. Any solutions discovered by NASA and P&G might be useful on Earth. It will be for the regions of the world that are experiencing water shortages. If you can launder your clothing in space, on the moon, or Mars with very little water, and energy, then that would also be a score back on Tide’s home planet.
