An Antares rocket carrying a Cygnus spacecraft stuffed with supplies for astronauts launched for the International Space Station on Sunday. On board the cargo ship is food, science equipment, mini-satellites and something entirely new: odor-resistant exercise clothing.
The 3,300 pounds of cargo is scheduled to rendezvous with the ISS on July 16, according to NASA.
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Clothes for a crew of six usually adds up to more than 900 pounds of cargo. NASA's experiment with antimicrobial clothing could greatly reduce the amount of clothing needed, thereby freeing up space for other equipment.
Early tomorrow Steve Swanson will reach out & pluck a Cygnus cargo ship from space using Canadarm2. Sleep well. @NASA pic.twitter.com/2m8YNqaFFH— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) July 15, 2014
According to NASA, the new clothing is both bacteria and odor-resistant, which should be of great help to astronauts who exercise for 2 hours every day.
About 1/2 of @OrbitalSciences payload for #ISS is experiments, spare parts & hardware More http://t.co/eehiYRzRsl pic.twitter.com/20DLcLZHT7— NASA Wallops (@NASA_Wallops) July 11, 2014
The craft will remain attached to the space station for about one month. Loaded with nearly 3,000 pounds of trash, it will be sent to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere upon reentry.