What does space smell like?
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You can't smell space directly: it's almost a vacuum, and a spacesuit helmet is sealed. But after a spacewalk, astronauts notice a strange smell on their suits, helmets, gloves and tools. They have compared it to seared steak and welding fumes, and astronaut Don Pettit called it "sweet-smelling welding fumes". Nobody knows exactly why; one idea is that oxygen around the space station slowly reacts with the suits, a kind of very slow burning.
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Transcript
- Sef What does space smell like? Let me sniff!
- Tiggy You can't. Space is almost empty, and your helmet is sealed.
- Tiggy But after a spacewalk, astronauts smell something on their suits and tools.
- Tiggy They say it's like seared steak, and welding fumes.
- Sef Space smells like steak?!
- Tiggy Nobody's sure why. One idea: oxygen out there slowly burns the suits, a tiny bit.
Sources
- NASA Ames: What does space smell like? (Dec 2021) nasa.gov
- BBC Sky at Night Magazine: Tim Peake on what space smells like skyatnightmagazine.com
- Christian Science Monitor: Space smells like seared steak, hot metal, astronauts report csmonitor.com
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