NASA astronaut reveals how she showers and does her hair while living in space

A NASA astronaut has given an inside look into how she does things like shower and style her hair while living in space.

Jessica Meir took to Instagram last week to share a video showcasing how she manages her curly locks while orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station (ISS).

As you could expect, she explained that simple tasks like washing her hair and putting it up are much harder when you’re not on the ground.

In the now-viral clip, which got over 4.9 million views, Meir, 49, was seen floating as she applied weightless drops of water to her head and no-rinse shampoo.

‘Welcome to a curly girl’s guide to controlling curls in space,’ she said in the video. ‘I just finished my workout so it’s time to wash my hair.’

She explained that having curly hair in the ISS is particularly difficult because it often gets caught on things as she’s ‘floating around.’ 

But on the bright side, she said she ‘never has to put her hair up’ since it naturally stays out of her face due to the difference in gravity.

‘I don’t have to tie my hair back at all because it just stays up,’ she said. ‘Even when I’m running on the treadmill, it doesn’t ever come down or get in my face.’

Meir joked that living in space made her hair constantly resemble a mohawk, and revealed that it made her locks thicker due to the fact that ‘gravity is not pulling her curls down.’

She confessed that when she spent time back on Earth, she missed her ‘space hair’ so much she tried her best to recreate it, but was unsuccessful. 

After drying her hair with a t-shirt, she was seen adding a small amount of conditioner. 

She noted that she uses ‘far less’ product in space because it tends to ‘build up’ more than when she’s on Earth.

‘One of the things I’m really looking forward to when I get back on Earth is having a nice shower again,’ she confessed.

Meir captioned the post: ‘Curly-haired crew, this one’s for you! Join me in my temporary home on the Space Station, where curls are even more free to be what they want to be.

‘Ever wonder how I care for my curls in space? Where my Earthly 3a curls become more like 3c, my hair finds every piece of Velcro it can, and I STILL don’t need a brush!

‘There are definitely some major pros to my space hair, like not having to put it up when I work out. I’m looking forward to an Earth shower when I get back, though.’ 

Viewers were enthralled with getting a look into her beauty routine while living in the ISS, and took to the comment section to thank her for sharing.

‘Decades from now my daughter and countless other little girls will be so grateful for this content. They’ll be ready to be confident curly girls in SPACE,’ one user gushed.

‘I have never even thought about this but I know my hair would be crazy in space,’ someone else joked.

‘I think you are taking a lot better care of your hair up there in space than most of us down here on this planet,’ added another fan. 

‘Watching GRWM in space wasn’t on my bingo card,’ read a fourth comment. 

NASA developed no-rinse shampoo specifically for astronauts, which requires minimal water and doesn’t create floating droplets in microgravity.

The ‘non-release’ formula means it doesn’t need rinsing with running water, making it ideal for space where water conservation is critical and free-floating water droplets could damage equipment.

Meir went to the ISS first in 2019 as a flight engineer, during which she was part of the first-ever all female space walk. 

She returned to Earth in April 2020 but went back out to the ISS in February 2026.