There’s been a lot of trash-talking about the International Space Station (ISS) recently.
Roughly 172 pounds (78 kilograms) of garbage was ejected in a specialized trash bag from the station’s commercial Bishop Airlock on July 2, Nanoracks, the company that built and operates the airlock, announced(opens in new tab) in a press release on Wednesday (July 6).
The operation was a test of Nanoracks’ new orbital waste-disposal tech, and it went swimmingly, company representatives said.
The trash bag contained used foam, packing materials, cargo transfer bags, office supplies, crew hygiene products and crew clothing, Nanoracks representatives said. The company added that is considering using a similar disposal system on its planned commercial space station, called Starlab, which is scheduled to fly in 2027.
“This is the first use of an airlock trash bag ejection system on the ISS,” tweeted(opens in new tab) Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who tracks re-entering objects like this trash bag. (When the bag will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere has not yet been disclosed.)
 have a new way to dispose of garbage...jettison it.){kind=link}