This is what outer space smells like — and it’s stinkier than you’d expect

NY Post ^ | 1/10/24 | Katherine Donlevy

[Libloather]

It turns out space helmets serve a dual purpose - to keep air in and stink out.

Just like Earth, the universe emits various smells from every corner of the never-ending universe, often of which are generally unpleasant, Space.com reported, citing numerous space expeditions over the decades.

Although it is impossible to take a whiff of the cosmos without facing certain death, astronauts have long described strong odors clinging to their space suits after they return to their air-locked chambers.

Metallic, burnt meat

Those aboard the Apollo moon landings described the scent as gunpowder-like, while others who traversed the International Space Station compared the smell to burnt steak.

According to scientists, the source of the metallic, burnt meat stink can be attributed to Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are found in charred foods on Earth and routinely occur in outer space.

The metallic smell, however, is likely a reaction to oxygen rather than one that is found in space: single atoms of O2 cling to the astronauts’ space suit before they walk into the airless vacuum of space and repressurize upon reentry into the airlock, combining with fresh oxygen atoms to form ozone, or O3, Space.com reported.

Booze

Some astronauts who removed their helmets after a space walk have also reported that the ozone smells bitter and smoky and even like rum and raspberries - a description former NASA chemist Steve Pearce bottled into the perfume “Eau de Space” in 2020.

The boozy odor is a bit more on the nose than the other descriptions and has previously been connected to Sagittarius B2, a vast dust cloud at the center of our galaxy that contains loads of alcohol, including vinyl alcohol, methanol and ethanol.

Luckily, the cloud also contains the chemical compound ethyl formate, which gives raspberries and rum...

[Libloather]

Cankles would fit right in.

[Adder]

Ewwww...cabbages in space...

[Sirius Lee]

In space, nobody can hear you fart.

SBD: Spaced But Deadly

[fella]

Now we know where the “Dark Matter” is.

[equaviator]

“I think. Therefore, I stink”.

[Jan_Sobieski]

I wonder what high radiation exposure because of the Van Allen Belts and cosmic radiation beyond smells like? Do you think we know?

[weezel]

Up is where space is, and also where all them farts go.

[vespa300]

Probably “Uranus” stinking up the place......I mean what did you expect?

[Clutch Martin]

“In space, nobody can hear you fart”

(File under: just a scientific bit of useless information)

IF you could actually spacewalk (EVA) naked AND you farted, the forced venting would propel you in the opposite direction of the venting.

[rarestia]

Smell is not a construct in space. What they smell is various chemical interactions with the nitrox they use for air in habitation modules. It’s all just elemental interactions with air. You can’t smell anything in space. There’s no breathable atmosphere. It’s the lack of pressure not the lack of oxygen that would kill you.

[farmguy]

Uranus smells strongly of flatulence,

No. Honestly. I’m not making that up. It’s in the article.

[bk1000]

“I think. Therefore, I stink”.

I stink, therefore I am.

[Sirius Lee]

the forced venting would propel you in the opposite direction of the venting.

Silent propulsion, all the better to sneak up on the enemy.

[Clay Moore]

Fry: Hey, as long as you don’t make me smell Uranus. (laughs)
Leela: I don’t get it.
Farnsworth: I’m sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all.
Fry: Oh. What’s it called now?
Farnsworth: Urectum. Here, let me locate it for you.
Fry: Hehe, no, no, I think I’ll just smell around a bit over here.

[jacknhoo]

When submariners spend 3 to 4 months under water breathing charcoal filtered air and the hatch is finally opened to fresh air from the surface, it absolutely stinks…something similar to the smell of a paper mill except more pungent. It takes a few minutes to get used to it. I imagine it to be similar in space.

[Openurmind]

Cool post! Pretty wild. Something I would have never considered probably in my life time.

Does space smell?

[Sicon]

Just like Earth, the universe emits various smells from every corner of the never-ending universe, often of which are generally unpleasant…

Those aboard the Apollo moon landings described the scent as gunpowder-like, while others who traversed the International Space Station compared the smell to burnt steak.

This was written either by AI, or by a writer who should be out of a job.

[rlmorel]

When I think about farts in space (okay, not often, unless I see a movie like "Rocket Man" which is not a great movie, but kids love it) and this one scene even made me laugh:

LINK:"Rocket Man"-Farting in Space Suits connected by emergency breathing tube!

When I went out to Oshkosh in July 1994, it was the 25th Anniversary of the Moon Landing. In a large outdoor pavilion close to the runway that seats 3500 people (I had no idea) they set a record for attendance at an Apollo 11 anniversary event that year that had 10,000 people attend the pavilion event. (They had about 2.5 million people visit Oshkosh that week for the aviation oriented event, IIRC)

I must say, I had no conception there were that many people (7.500 sitting out on the grass around the pavilion) as my buddy and I showed up early and got great seats inside about halfway to the stage. It was a beautiful summer night, and the pavilion was open on all sides.

There were 15 of the Apollo astronauts there including the entire Apollo 11 crew (an apparent rarity, since Neil Armstrong apparently didn’t do many appearances) and for several hours, they all sat on the stage at the front, getting up in front of the microphone, and spinning yarns…it was amazing! Totally unfiltered, almost as if you were in a small room, just you and them, having a beer!

They told stories about Gemini and Apollo, one stuck out, Jim Lovell (I think) spoke about spending time in the cramped Gemini capsule with Frank Borman, who had a legendary gas problem! There was a lot of laughing there! It was apparent that Borman was bearing the ribbing in good humor as best he could, and the other astronauts were grinning and laughing raucously!

But the one thing that stayed in my memory after all these years…the sun had gone down, it was dark out, and the astronauts were taking turns telling stories, and right in the middle of one astronaut (I can’t remember who it was) telling his tale, there came a great roar behind us, being close to the runway as the picture below shows (red arrow-I “think” that is the pavilion)

(I Photoshopped a Concorde on the runway so you get an idea how close we were)

Every single person in that crowd turned in unison, to see a Concorde SST taking off in full afterburner on the darkened runway, all four engines screaming in an ear-splitting roar, spitting out huge tongues of bright blue flame what seemed hundreds of feet behind the plane speeding down the runway!

Everyone completely ignored this astronaut up on the stage who was in the middle of some story, but instead of him being put out about it, he could be heard to encourage the audience to turn around and watch: “Go ahead and watch! We are aviation enthusiasts up here too, and all of us are watching too!”

There was something just beautiful about that. These were men who had made a living flying planes, had gone to the moon, but in the end…they were just like us, like a kid in a back yard watching with upturned eyes, some Piper Cub or jet airliner flying over! How I love that memory!

[Openurmind]

“Smell is not a construct in space. What they smell is various chemical interactions with the nitrox they use for air in habitation modules.”

But would it smell if you gathered what elemental particles that are floating around out there onto an external medium? Like smoke smell collecting into fabrics? Could the elements then have an odor that could be smelled from off the medium?

If you applied a common odor to a surface, stuck it out into space for several hours, and then brought it back into a normal oxygen atmospheric environment would that odor still be on that surface?

[Jan_Sobieski]

The astronauts were brave men. Going up 300 miles in space is quite an accomplishment!