Gigglebit: How Scott Kelly will wash his head for a year in space

Gigglebit is Siliconrepublic’s daily look at the lighter side of science and techology – such as the lighter side of a year-long mission on the International Space Station (ISS).

Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka and US astronaut Scott Kelly are settling in for a long-term stay on the ISS for the purposes of investigating the effect this will have on the human body.

But blurred vision, loss of balance and decreasing bone density aside – there are practical elements of living aboard the ISS that will impact the crew immediately. Take the simple process of washing, which, in microgravity, takes on a magical quality.

For the bald head of Scott Kelly, we have this example from Italian astronaut and former ISS inhabitant Luca Parmitano. While this looks incredible to us Earth-bound humans, I wonder at what point over the course of a year it will transform from a novelty to the everyday for Kelly.

^{Video via CoconutScienceLab/YouTube}

As a bonus for all you long-haired lovelies wondering how you would treat your tresses on the ISS, here’s NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg demonstrating how easy it would be to rock a killer mohawk in space.

^{Video via VideoFromSpace/YouTube}