Tide companions with NASA to design first laundry detergent for area
Tide is partnering with NASA in a Space Act Agreement to investigate how to efficiently clean astronauts’ clothing in environments with limited resources
tide has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to help detergent solution development and technology development in space. Under the agreement, NASA can test and investigate tidal cleaning solutions in space.
The study could have potential planetary impacts, such as innovative solutions to resource and environmental challenges on Earth. In line with the detergent brand’s decade-long commitment to sustainability, Ambition 2030, Tide will strive to bring insights outside of the planet back into everyday consumer products.
Currently, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) wear clothes several times before replacing them with a new set. Clothing is delivered to the station through replenishment shipping facilities.
The limited cargo capacity makes replenishing clothing supplies for space missions such as Artemis Moon missions and a manned Mars tour a challenge. Without a wash solution, 160 pounds of clothing per crew member is brought to the ISS annually. Human round trip emissions to Mars could take two to three years.
Major challenges for alien laundry include ingredient safety and compatibility with NASA life support systems, as well as the limited amount of water available per wash load and the requirement that the wash water be purified back to potable water quality.
To address these challenges, Tide has developed a fully degradable detergent specifically designed for use in space to solve odor, cleanliness and stain removal problems for washable items used in space missions and at the same time suitable for use in a closed water system.
On board a 2022 cargo launch to the space station “Mission PGTide” (P&G Telescience Investigation of Detergent Experiments), teams in cooperation with the ISS US National will test the stability of detergents under weightlessness and the exposure to the radiation levels occurring in space Laboratory and SEOPS. In addition, the ingredients and stain removal performance will be tested on board the ISS through experiments with Tide To Go Wipes and Tide To Go Pens.
“The ISS National Lab is excited to be working with the P&G team again as it pushes the boundaries of its research and development aboard the orbit laboratory,” said Dr. Michael Roberts, Acting Senior Scientist, ISS National Lab.
“The private use of the space station enables companies like P&G to conduct research that is not possible on Earth in order to develop new consumer goods, improve existing products and better understand processes that promote business models both on the ground and in low earth orbit. “. We look forward to this initial investigation of Tide in Space and hope that many more will follow soon. “
In addition to testing aboard the ISS National Lab, NASA and Tide researchers can investigate how an innovative combo washing and drying unit using the specially formulated detergent could potentially be incorporated into planetary habitats that are essential for the Artemis Moon and Mars missions in low-gravity surface conditions.
There are also a number of unique challenges for a manned Mars mission. Future missions to and from Mars are expected to take several years, and these long-term flights require washing solutions designed for extreme space environments and varying gravity conditions.
“This partnership was formed to rethink cleaning solutions – it forces us to rethink innovations for resource constrained and challenging environments like the ISS, space and even the future of our home planet,” said Aga Orlik, senior vice president, P&G North America Fabric Care . “We are committed to applying our lessons learned from our partnerships with NASA and the ISS National Lab to Tide on Earth to develop a resource-efficient washing solution for everyday use while meeting consumer demand for more sustainable products.”
The message from Tide’s space exploration to innovate green laundry solutions follows the Tides Ambition 2030 commitments announced earlier this spring. Tide’s ambition commitments included actionable goals to achieve resource efficiency in energy, water and waste throughout the laundry’s life cycle.
From production and packaging through the usage phase to the end of life – to reduce the environmental impact of a load of laundry and at the same time increase the effect of clean clothing.
“Mankind has reached a crucial point where we are on the one hand on the exciting threshold of colonizing space and on the other hand are facing a critical phase where action must now be taken to save the planet we all call home “Said Orlik.
“The collaboration with NASA and the ISS National Lab is particularly exciting because it enables us to push the limits of resource efficiency to their absolute limits and provide insights with practical applications for the future of laundry in space as well as here on earth to uncover. “
