---
title: "This Space Roomba Could Clean the ISS While Astronauts Sleep"
description: "## Worst Job Ever"
date: "2019-04-19"
modified: "2019-04-19"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/germrover-iss-clean-uv-robot"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
  - "International Space Station"
  - "NASA"
  - "Sleep"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "germs"
  - "international space station"
  - "iss"
  - "the digest"
---

# This Space Roomba Could Clean the ISS While Astronauts Sleep

![GermFalcon, a company specializing in airplane sanitizing tech, developed a kind of space Roomba that can blast sterilising UV rays at the walls of the ISS.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/germrover-iss-clean-uv-robot.png>)
*\<em\>Image: GermFalcon\</em\>*

## Worst Job Ever

Wiping down the inside of the International Space Station is an arduous task.

But luckily, thanks to a private company specializing in airplane sanitizing tech called GermFalcon, astronauts aboard the ISS might be able to skip that chore in the future: an autonomous, Roomba-style space cleaner called GermRover could one day blast the walls with powerful sterilizing UV rays to kill any harmful microbes.

"UV disinfection has been shown to decrease hospital infection rates, so we expect to replicate those results in space," Elliot Kreitenberg, developer of the robot, [told *New Scientist*](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2199921-zero-gravity-robot-cleaner-could-automatically-sterilise-the-iss/>).

## Filthy Space Station

Futurism has previously reported on how conditions can get nasty on board the ISS.

[Research published](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/international-space-station-germs>) earlier this month suggests that the ISS is teeming with bacterial and fungal colonies. Some of these bacteria were even found to be [antibiotic-resistant](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-international-space-station>) as well, compounding the problem.

NASA is currently looking into trialing the GermRover. GermFalcon is working on a prototype it will reveal at the Aerospace Medicine Association conference in Las Vegas next month, according to the *New Scientist*.

**READ MORE:** [Zero-gravity robot cleaner could automatically sterilise the ISS](<https://www.newscientist.com/article/2199921-zero-gravity-robot-cleaner-could-automatically-sterilise-the-iss/>) \[*New Scientist*\]

**More on germs on the ISS:** *[The International Space Station is Teeming With Germs](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/international-space-station-germs>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)