Design Concepts for Zero-G Whole Body Cleansing on ISS Alpha: Individual Design Project - Part 2

Johnson Space Center, the Mecca of manned Space Programs, is now abuzz with
preparations for the International Space Station—ISS Alpha. The work on the various
systems and subsystems for the U.S. Habitation Module is scheduled to begin in l998.
As a prelude to that, the Flight Crew Support Division perceived the need to take a
closer and more critical look at the planning for the Whole Body Cleansing function
onboard the ISS.

This report is an endeavour to dig and delve all data available on Whole Body Cleansing
mechanisms used in the past and the present, by the Russians and the Americans,
analyze it and come up with design concepts for products/ product systems for Zero-g
Whole Body Cleansing onboard ISS Alpha, for typical stay duration of about 90 days.

This report takes a close look at the Skylab collapsible shower, the Mir shower/ sauna,
the full body cleansing methods currently in use onboard the Space Shuttle and Mir and
at the Whole Body Shower designed and tested for Space Station Freedom. It attempts
to "listen" carefully to what the Mir astronauts—Norman Thagard, Shannon Lucid and
John Blaha¾have to say about their personal hygiene experiences during their recent
long-duration stays on the Russian station Mir. The findings in the report call for a
change in paradigm. What is good for Earth conditions is not necessarily good for Zerog! It concludes that a shower is not a good idea for the ISS. The final concept that is
proposed reflects very strongly what the Mir astronauts would like to have and to use
onboard a station like the ISS. The report concludes with directions of how to take the
"idea" further and realize it in the form of a product system for Whole Body Cleansing
onboard the ISS.