People produce a lot of garbage wherever they go, but the International Space Station (ISS) does not have a garbage truck that comes to collect it weekly or every few days. That’s why astronauts and cosmonauts have to collect their garbage for months and burn it by a Cygnus cargo spacecraft that visits the station at certain times and can carry tons of garbage.
But this past weekend, NASA and a space company called Nanoracks tested a new way to get rid of ISS litter. In this test, performed with Nanoracks’ Bishop Airlock system, 78 kilograms of dirty clothing, foam, packaging material, depleted office supplies and hygiene products from the ISS were placed and sealed in a bag-like carrier inside the airlock. A robotic arm then placed Bishop in a position where he could be thrown.
This airlock is normally used by ISS astronauts to drop off small satellites, to be used as a movable toolbox on spacewalks, and to conduct experiments. Making a statement Wednesday after testing it for the first time, Nanoracks said this method is “a more efficient and more sustainable model for getting rid of litter inside the ISS.”
While the Bishop Airlock has a much lower capacity than Cygnus, its more frequent use can prevent garbage from piling up on the already limited space station, and as more and more people go into space, it’s critical to have as much space as possible on space stations.
It can take up to nine months for the leftover garbage bag to burn completely in Earth’s atmosphere, Nanoracks says.
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