There is no laundry in space: astronauts wear clothes until they are dirty, then discard them. For a months-long trip to Mars, where every kilogram of resupply matters, that is unsustainable. A team led by Dr. Gabe Xu at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), working with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, is developing a very different solution: a handheld "laundry gun."
The device generates cold plasma from helium, air, and water vapor. Energetic electrons collide with H2O and O2 molecules, producing reactive oxygen species such as ozone (O3) and hydroxyl radicals (OH). Those species oxidize bacterial cell membranes — the same mechanism behind hydrogen peroxide and bleach — killing microbes on fabric without water or chemical detergents.
"This will reduce the microbial load and keep clothes and other soft surfaces clean, at least microbially, for astronaut health," Xu explains. It could also sterilize spacesuits and tools before crews step onto Mars. He is quick to add a caveat: "It won't remove coffee or grass stains... it won't make your clothes less dirty, just remove bacteria."
The project grew out of planetary-protection research — keeping Earth microbes off other worlds. The same plasma chemistry could one day serve space agriculture, waste processing, water purification, air revitalization, and even treating lunar or Martian regolith.
Lab tests show promise, but engineering work remains: the team is designing a larger handheld unit that can treat broad fabric surfaces while safely removing the ozone generated during sanitization. With just electricity, air, and water, the plasma gun could take one more household chore off the list of things astronauts cannot do in space.
