NASA astronaut Jessica Meir just shared some tips for taming curls in the harsh environment of microgravity, and it was super important for curly-haired people like me. Meir’s hair-care tips came Wednesday (September 9) in a 5.5-minute video she posted to More on that in a moment, but first, let’s look at how Meir cares for her curly hair in microgravity. In a video she posted to X on September 9, 2026, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir provided tips for caring for curly hair in space. (Image credit: Jessica Meir/NASA) According to Meir, washing in orbit requires a leave-in shampoo, especially on the scalp, where sweat and salt accumulate. As you can imagine, you have less access to hair products than we do here on Earth, so you keep it simple: you carefully squeeze your water sac, then run the expelled water along your hair roots and rub it into your scalp, too. Meir then uses a “specific T-shirt” to dry her hair, which she described as thick and curly. Between treatments, Meir avoids brushes (for fairly obvious frizz reasons) and uses her hands and fingers to “work” her hair. Luckily, humidity isn’t a big issue on the ISS, but she uses leave-in conditioner: “My Earthly 3a curls become more like 3c,” she said. Meir has been on the ISS since February and said he hopes to take a real shower when he returns home to Earth. Maybe you like OK, so about that representation. My editor asked me to talk not only about Meir’s video but also about my own connections to her words, which brings up some teenage angst. In the 1990s, I was (then, as now) a curly-haired person who was (bitterly) old enough to remember all the curly rock stars from my 80s childhood. But do you dare wear curls to my school in 1994? As if! Lame! All the young women around me were sporting the “Rachel from ‘Friends'” flat-haired look that would take forever for thick-haired curly girls like me to achieve. It didn’t bother me, I like to sleep! Which was apparently enough for my classmates (of either gender) to hurl unprintable and sometimes racist insults at me, or hide my face because I was “ugly,” or spread rumors that I had lice in my hair, etc. I couldn’t believe it; Other kids sported amazing standout hairstyles like mullets and mushroom cuts, so what was wrong with curls? To be clear, as a 40-something, I now have perspective: I later learned that some of my classmates had their own complex (even tragic) issues that contributed to the bullying, and I have no idea how other kids in my classes fared with their hairstyles. The real lesson learned is that representation matters, inclusion is possible, and inclusion matters in multiple dimensions. While appearance may not seem important, at first glance, it really is: curly hair is a dimension of diversity. (I know I’m just a female voice, of white UK heritage; other people with curly hair will have different perspectives.) So back to the curly hair space care routine: As a fellow curly hair, can I confirm that it holds up? Yes it does. While I’m not an astronaut like Meir, I can offer you an analogy: the two weeks I spent in 2014 at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station in rural Utah, during which my crew was able to shower every other day, if we were lucky. On that mock mission to the Red Planet, I also used leave-in shampoo to save water, only combed (never brushed) my hair when it was wet, and in the meantime mostly wore it in a bun to protect the curls. While it took me two showers to feel normal when I finally made it to a hotel room with running water, my hair bounced back, so to speak, quickly. This shows that my curls are resistant and since I was 20 years old I feel lucky to have them; My hair requires minimal work or styling besides a quick wash and a comb, and as long as I don’t touch it after it’s wet, it’s happy. And to all those kids who made fun of me in the past, allow me a moment of lunar joy: NASA’s Christina Koch sported curly hair during NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission earlier this year. Koch herself, by the way, later talked about her moon mission braids at an event in my literal hometown in Canada (since, speaking of representation, I’m Canadian). Yes, of course, there was more to this historic mission than the hair: I covered the science and activities of Artemis II at numerous in-person events for over three years, and some of its crew members for 17 years. But seeing curls on a person circling the moon? Bonus. However, everyone’s experience of curly hair is different, so I’d like to hear from you. There is a comments section with this article to chat about caring for curly hair in microgravity (or analog), other curly-haired astronauts, or similar topics. Let us know your opinion.
