The Procter and Gamble brand aims for technological breakthroughs that will help create products that allow astronauts to keep their spacesuits fresh, even in outer space. Partnering with NASA, they are making a fully degradable detergent that can clean clothes without water use.
In the next decade, Tide will be testing fabric care products at the International Space Station and on the mission to Moon and Mars. The products being tested will include the Tide to Go pens and wipes.
This partnership can have significant implications for the consumers on Earth as a quarter of the world’s population faces extremely high water stress. “Scientific breakthroughs always starts from a very limited application, but when we get that breakthrough, the ability to use it to solve today’s problems on Earth is going to be phenomenal,” said Shailesh Jejurikar, chief executive officer of P&G’s fabric and home care division.
He added that NASA had reached out to P&G to solve astronauts’ cleaning challenges in Space. For example, astronauts need to rewear their clothes numerous times before they’re either sent back to Earth as trash or ejected into the atmospherer. One hundred sixty pounds of clothes per year are sent to one crew member through resupply shipments.
“It’s actually an extremely tough cleaning challenge. Astronauts, to stay fit, need to work out a couple of hours every day to manage their health,” Jejurikar said. “And if you’re working out two to three hours every day, it’s going to be sweaty.”
With such an innovation, not only will the experience of the astronauts become far easier; it will also provide a cleaning solution to many nations that face water scarcity. Tide has set a goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by half till 2030.
