As someone with a pretty terrible sense of smell, I'd never even considered the possibliity that the vacum of space could have a smell. However, astronauts report that their suits and equipment have a smell that lingers after returning from space walks.
Some of the descriptions of the smell are:
– A strong metallic smell
– Gunpoweder
– Ozone
– Sweet-smelling welding fumes
– Seared steak
– A mix of walnuts and motorcycle break pads
Somehow, this concept of space having a scent made me yearn to smell it one day, however limited my sense of smell may be.
Astronauts consistently report that space has a metallic smell
byu/ManagerGames inspace
25 Comments
This is obviously coming from the suit, not space
Scent is carried by air, and could not be carried in a vacuum. So anything the astronauts are smelling is coming from within their contained atmospheres such as their suits or the station itself.
That isn’t space, that’s the smell of the equipment, perhaps chemical reactions from cosmic radiation etc.
I have a few carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, including a 2019 Aguas Zarcas. When they are “fresh”, they have a very distinct “burnt” smell. Mine is faded a lot over the years, but at first, it was very noticeable.
I keep it in a little jewel case and open it up only when I want someone to smell it. It’s still noticeable, just not as strong as it used to me.
It’s a burnt… something, but not anything easily recognizable.
Fun unrelated but kind of is fact #1: Metals don’t smell. In order for something to have a smell it must release particles of itself into the air, and metals don’t do that. When you smell metal, what you’re actually smelling is something else on the metal having a reaction with the metal. An example of this is a penny, what you smell isn’t the penny itself, it’s the oil from hands reacting with the metal.
Fun unrelated but kind of is fact #2: The searing of a steak is called the Maillard Reaction, and it’s a smell we evolved to find highly desirable.
I have nothing to actually add to the topic, I just had to nerd out and info dump for a second. I would also like to smell space one day.
Basically it’s the smell of the equipment, but specifically the smell is caused by the space environment’s effect on said equipment (atomic oxygen, radiation, etc)
Everything is getting attacked by intense UV and atomic oxygen that is attacking everything exposed. It also ablates material, so you have atomically fine particles being oxidized, so basically burning it. This can be pretty intense.
I have a few lasers.for cutting and engraving, the UV is surprisingly good at casting odors.
I feel like nobody even bothered to click on the link based off these comments, which checks out for Reddit.
Astronauts report this after a space walk when removing their helmets in the airlock. They are smelling the materials that make up the outside of their suits being degraded and off gassing volatile compounds after being exposed to radiation and solar wind.
It’s not the smell inside their suits or the ISS itself that’s being described.
People report metallic smell and taste when exposed to large doses of ionizing radiation here on Earth, so it’s likely the culprit in space, too.
The scent maker mentioned early in the article actually ran [a kickstarter for “eu de space,”](
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/eaudespace/) letting people buy what they’d come up with for NASA in bottles like a cologne.
I got some. I’m glad I got to smell it but it immediately went into three layers of plastic bag and came out only rarely for curious guests until I eventually binned it in a move. It was *awful*. Like burning electronics in a busy airport restroom. In hindsight, it’s a shame that I didn’t find a science teacher or someone like that to give it to.
I always thought (with no basis whatsoever) that the smells were their suits after having been in the most direct unfiltered sunlight imaginable
People living in a metal box reporting metal smell /s
How do you smell spacey didn’t they just smell refurbished air?
I want to huff Space.
Not undog my helmet and have that *whoosh* when I attempt to inhale then have my rapidly freezing lungs outside my mouth.
More like fill a bag with nothing during a space walk.
There’s a fragrance out there called Eau de Space that is supposed to mimic what the astronauts smell. I purchased a small sample of it and found it really unpleasant! It definitely had all the notes you listed. A very complex scent but I got hit with the almost burnt steak and metallic notes first. I had to get it for the novelty. There is also Eau de Luna for the smell of the moon. I have not experienced that one, though.
NASA Goddard Visitor Center has a display where you can smell the recreated scent of space. It smelled like burnt plastic to me. It’s a cool spot to check out if you’re located in the DC area.
If you ever do work with a really high quality face mask with organic vapor filters you literally smell almost nothing.
Then when you finally remove the mask you smell all kinds of weird smells you normally dont detect as your nose recalibrates. I bet something similar is going on here.
How would they know? They are constantly living in an environment designed by humans.
Actual space is a near vacuum and they never ever venture into it?
I don’t understand.
Check this out https://eaudespace.com
I bought both space and the moon but they smell very similar so I’d just buy one. But supposedly this is an accurate representation. Let’s just say, I think I’ll stay on Earth.
None of these are healthy smells 🙁
The seared steak smell is slightly concerning. With all the radiation and small particles flying around I’d be worried it’s my own flesh
FTA
>A lot of what the space station astronauts smell is likely the result of a sort of combustion. The space station is at a low enough altitude that it is still plowing through a faint atmosphere that contains oxygen. The station rams through this residual atmosphere to create a halo of excited oxygen around the station and this results in oxidation of materials, particularly those facing the ram direction of the station. I observed this when I was a graduate student and we discovered that mylar films that faced forward were all ‘etched’ away.
>Undoubtedly the same process is occurring to the astronauts’ suits. So… probably another example of a form of ‘combustion.’
Wasn’t it grilled chicken?
This makes sense. Most multi atom elements are metal
Our galaxy smells like raspberries.