Washington, July 16 (IANS): NASA has sent an Antares rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) carrying a Cygnus spacecraft stuffed with supplies for astronauts, including odour-resistant exercise clothing.
The new experiment with anti-microbial dress may reduce to a considerable extent the amount of clothing needed.
In this way, NASA may send some other essential items for space purposes.
The new clothing is both bacteria and odour-resistant, which should be of great help to astronauts who exercise for two hours every day, Mashable reported.
NASA said the commercial cargo was likely to reach the ISS Wednesday, and it will be captured by ISS astronauts using the orbiting lab's robotic arm and then installed on the Earth-facing port of the station's Harmony module.
Cygnus is carrying almost 3,300 pounds (around 1,500 kg) of supplies to the ISS to expand the research capability of the Expedition 40 crew.
Among the research investigations aboard Cygnus are a flock of Earth-imaging nanosatellites, hardware to enable a trio of free-flying robots to perform 3-D mapping inside the station and a host of student experiments.
Cygnus is planned to remain attached to the ISS for about 30 days before departing with 1.3 tonnes of disposable cargo for a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean approximately five days later.