How long did the average shower take using the Skylab station shower apparatus?
Answer
Over two hours
The shower system installed on the Skylab station, while functional, was notoriously cumbersome and inefficient for routine use. Astronauts needed to secure their feet, erect a specialized fireproof cylindrical wall spanning from floor to ceiling, and use an overhead pressurized bottle to spray water via a hose. This complex, multi-step procedure meant that even though it used a relatively small amount of water (about three liters), the entire process, including the subsequent painstaking suctioning of all sudsy residue afterward to protect electronics, routinely consumed more than two hours of valuable crew time.
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