Space Corporation Energia, which specializes in the production of spacecraft, has announced the expansion of its products. Now design engineers are working on the creation of a washing machine for space explorers. The company made such a statement on its YouTube channel, although it did not share any details about future space technology.
The need for a space washer is obvious. After all, such equipment on board the spacecraft can significantly reduce the cost of clothing and underwear for astronauts. Just think: for a crew of three, more than 600 kg of linen is required annually. The washing machine could eliminate the need to spend extra money both on making clothes and on delivering them to the orbital station.
Back in 2017, the Energia company talked about the creation of a space washer, which its employees shared with journalists from the scientific journal Space Technique and Technology. Then design engineers for washing clothes suggested using carbon dioxide, which would be produced by the astronauts themselves when they exhaled air. At a temperature of 31 degrees and a pressure of 74 atmospheres, carbon dioxide would be converted into a liquid in a special apparatus for processing clothes and thus used for “hygienic cleaning of things”.
Whether this technology or a completely different one will be involved in the new space washing machine, we will already know after it is presented to the public. In the meantime, all developments are classified as “Secret”.