Luisa Veronica Talamas

Industrial Design, 2018

ALIS 01, the first generation outer space laundry system will enable astronauts to wash their clothes in a micro-gravity environment taking into consideration the scarcity of resources in space, with the goal of improving hygiene as well as reducing the amount of waste that is generated during the supporting period of a space mission. 

Currently, pounds of clothes are being shipped to space periodically to supply up to six astronauts at a time. Each pound can be estimated to cost 10,000 dollars to ship, and these clothes are discarded as waste after a certain amount of reuse. 

ALIS 01 is a three part system that is designed to wash clothes in space as well as improve organization and clothing storage at the International Space Station and potentially inside of a traveling rocket.

After dirty clothes ready to be discarded, astronauts will fold them and placed inside of washable garment bags that will store them orderly until a load is ready to be processed. When a load is ready, a user profile can be selected to automatically determine the duration of a cycle and the water and detergent requirements. The washer and drier are able to process a load automatically after a user selection is made, and the astronaut will be free to continue on with more important tasks. After a full cycle is completed astronauts will be able to take ready-to-use washed and dried clothes into their crew quarters for storage.

Luisa Veronica Talamas was born and raised in Chihuahua, Mexico, where she was introduced to design through her parents’ careers in architecture. In 2010 she moved to Austin, Texas where she finished high school, and had her first paid projects as a designer. During her college years at Ohio State she took part in many interdisciplinary collaborations outside of her design coursework, resulting in awards, recognition, and contracting work.