Astronaut bringing test underwear back to Earth
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: In what might embarrass less
replica watches adventurous souls,
astronaut Koichi Wakata is returning to Earth with the underwear he kept on for a solid month during his space station stay and scientists
will check them out.
They're experimental high-tech undies, designed in Japan to be odor free.
The Japanese spaceman described his underwear test Thursday as shuttle Endeavour and its crew aimed for a touchdown the next
morning. The astronauts released some mini satellites, their final job before Friday's re-entry, and said it was time to come home after more
than two weeks aloft.
Wakata has been off the planet for
IWC watches 4 1/2 months.
"I haven't talked about this underwear to my crew members," Wakata said in an interview with The Associated Press, drawing a big laugh from
his six shuttle colleagues. "But I wore them for about a month, and my station crew members never complained for about a month, so I think
the experiment went fine."
The underwear, called J-Wear, is a new type of anti-bacterial, water-absorbent, odor-eliminating clothing designed for space missions. The
line includes shirts, pants and socks as well. Wakata tested all of them during his mission; he had four pairs of the silver-coated
underwear, a cross between briefs and
Omega watches boxers.
"We'll see the results after landing," Wakata said.
J-Wear is billed as being antistatic and flame retardant, which is especially important for spaceship wear. The cotton and polyester clothes
are also seamless, making them lighter and more comfortable, according to the Japanese Space Agency. The goal is "comfortable everyday
clothes for life in a spaceship."
Another Japanese astronaut wore some J-Wear items during a
Baume Mercier watches
shuttle flight last year, but had only 16 days in orbit to try them out.