Japanese astronaut Takao Doi is testing some special clothes called J-ware that aim to stay fresh smelling and bacteria free even after a week of wear. The clothes were developed by Japanese researcher Yoshiko Taya. The underpants are flame-resistant and anti-static. They were specially made to kill bacteria, absorb water, insulate the body, dry quickly. Reuters says the underpants were given a trail run last year.
Japanese astronaut Takao Doi gave the clothes a trial run during a shuttle mission last year. Even after a vigorous workout, Doi's clothes stayed dry.
"The other astronauts become very sweaty, but he doesn't have any sweat. He didn't need to hang his clothes to dry," Yanagawa said.
J-ware should reduce the amount of clothing that needs to be sent to the space station, which has no laundry facilities. Toting cargo into orbit is expensive, so having clothes that stay fresh for weeks at a time should result in significant savings.
The Japanese space agency plans to make the clothes available to NASA and its other space station partners once development is complete. A commercial line also is in the offing.
They underwear is also said to be comfortable and stylish but there are no pictures available so we will just have to take their word for it. There are pictures of the astronaut but not of the underpants.
"He can wear his trunks (underwear) more than a week," said Koji Yanagawa, an official with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency. We aren't sure we want to see the results of the underpants after this lengthy test but we do hope they stay clean and bacteria free.
