How does outer space smell

This is why it was revolutionary when Dr. A hollow dome is placed over a flower, for example, and odour compounds are removed from its surroundings — meaning we can get a jasmine smell without actually picking any jasmine. Nature remains intact.

If one supplier runs out of one particular material, another supplier might not match it. As it turns out, several of the astronauts that have gone space-walking have reported a distinct odor at exactly this moment.

Folks have said space smells like hot metal and seared meats. Astronaut Thomas Jones said it "carries a distinct odor of ozone, a faint acrid smell…a little like gunpowder, sulfurous.

It must have come from the air ducts that re-pressed the compartment. Then I noticed that this smell was on their suit, helmet, gloves, and tools. Add to all those anecdotal assessments the recent discovery , in a vast dust cloud at the center of our galaxy, of ethyl formate -- and the fact that the ester is, among other things, the chemical responsible for the flavor of raspberries. Add to that the fact that ethyl formate itself smells like rum. Put all that together, and one thing becomes clear: The final frontier sort of stinks.

It turns out that we, and more specifically our atmosphere, are the ones who give space its special spice. According to one researcher, the aroma astronauts inhale as they move their mass from space to station is the result of "high-energy vibrations in particles brought back inside which mix with the air. In the past, NASA has been interested in reproducing that smell for training purposes -- the better to help preemptively acclimate astronauts to the odors of the extra-atmospheric environment.

And the better to help minimize the sensory surprises they'll encounter once they're there. The agency, in , talked with the scent chemist Steve Pearce about the possibility of recreating space stench, as much as possible, here on earth.

That is the smell of space. The interior of the International Space Station smells a little more mundane. Editor's note: This story has been corrected to state that Pearce was not hired, but was merely asked, by NASA to recreate the odor of space.