Experts: Space smells like burnt meat, gasoline and liquor

Lifestyle

by Catherine Dunleavy

It turns out that space helmets serve a dual purpose: keeping air in and getting the stench out.

Just like the Earth, the universe emits different smells from every corner of the never-ending universe, and these smells are often generally unpleasant, Space.com reported: Citing numerous space missions over the decades.

Although it's impossible to get a whiff of the cosmos without facing certain death, astronauts have long described strong odors clinging to their spacesuits after they returned to their air-sealed chambers.

Metal, burnt flesh

Those aboard the Apollo moon landing described the smell as similar to gunpowder, while others who have traversed the International Space Station compared the smell to a burnt steak.

According to scientists, the source of the unpleasant metallic odor of burnt meat can be traced to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are found in charred foods on Earth and are routinely found in outer space.

However, the metallic odor is likely a reaction to oxygen and not an odor found in space: single atoms of O2 stick to the astronauts' suits before they enter the airless vacuum of space and repressurize upon returning to the airlock, resulting in… Combining metallic scent and metallic scent. With fresh oxygen atoms to form ozone, or O3, Space.com reports.

vintage

Some astronauts who took off their helmets after spacewalks also reported that ozone smelled bitter, smoky and even like rum and raspberries — a description that former NASA chemist Steve Pearce bottled in “Eau de Space” in 2020.

The booze smell is a little more on the nose than other descriptions and has previously been linked to Sagittarius B2, a vast dust cloud at the center of our galaxy that contains large amounts of alcohol, including vinyl alcohol, methanol and ethanol.

Fortunately, the cloud also contains the chemical compound ethyl formate, which gives raspberries and rum their sweet scent.

Farts

As if its name didn't give it away, Uranus smells strongly of flatulence, a decadent discovery made in 2018.

The seventh planet's upper atmosphere is composed of hydrogen sulfide, the compound that creates the smell of rotten eggs and human farts.

Fortunately or not, the extreme conditions and extremely low temperatures of the distant planet would kill an Earthling long before the scent would arise.

Urine

Although it's one of the most beautiful parts of outer space, comets have landed somewhere as one of the stinkiest parts.

Similar to the planet Uranus, the balls of ice and dirt are surrounded by a halo of hydrogen sulfide molecules, in addition to ammonia, which is reminiscent of the unpleasant smell of urine, as scientists discovered in 2014.

Oddly enough, it also gives off a sweet almond scent.

gasoline

Scientists have discovered that Saturn's largest moon has a distinct gasoline smell, which shouldn't be surprising given that Titan is covered in rivers and lakes of oil.

The moon's atmosphere also consists of a thick smog of hydrocarbons, molecules that make up the crude oil used to make gasoline.

The stench itself can be blamed on the benzene molecule, which is also found naturally in gasoline and floats throughout Titan's atmosphere.