Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vog Bomb. Here, we all know
Speaker 1: that space is empty. Most of space is completely absent
Speaker 1: of anything, not dust, not planets, nor Sun's, not even air.
Speaker 1: So why do many of the people who have been
Speaker 1: to space and spend time in it report that space
Speaker 1: has a smell? It turns out that space does smell,
Speaker 1: and our solar system in fact, has a very particular scent.
Speaker 1: This is likely the result of several factors, but all
Speaker 1: are clear. Our corner of the universe is kind of stinky.
Speaker 1: While no astronaut has ever been unwise enough to unclasp
Speaker 1: and remove their helmet in the near vacuum of space,
Speaker 1: many have reported having experienced sense up there upon their return. Specifically,
Speaker 1: many astronauts report different smells in the airlock after participating
Speaker 1: in spacewalks. American astronaut Don Petite described it in this
Speaker 1: way after returning from NASA's Expedition six to the International
Speaker 1: Space Station in two thousand three. A quote, The best
Speaker 1: description I can come up with is metallic, a rather pleasant, sweet,
Speaker 1: metallic sensation. It reminded me of my college summers, where
Speaker 1: I've labored for many hours with an arc welding torch
Speaker 1: repairing heavy equipment for a small logging outfit. It reminded
Speaker 1: me of pleasant, sweet smelling welding fumes. That is the
Speaker 1: smell of space. Other astronauts have described it in similar
Speaker 1: varying ways, burning metal, a distinct odor of ozone and
Speaker 1: acrid smell, walnuts and brake pads, gunpowder, and even burnt
Speaker 1: almond cookie a much like wine, connoisseurs may smell something
Speaker 1: a bit different from the same bottle. Astronaut reports differ
Speaker 1: slightly in their scent notes, but have one thing in common,
Speaker 1: a burnt smell. So what might explain why space smells burnt?
Speaker 1: There are two possible explanations. OH one hypothesis relates to
Speaker 1: the process that occurs in the airlock as astronauts return
Speaker 1: from space to the I, S, S, or whatever spacecraft
Speaker 1: they call home temporarily during repressurization. The chemical reaction of
Speaker 1: oxidation occurs atoms of oxygen in space attached to the
Speaker 1: astronaut suit and flowed in during the depressurized time when
Speaker 1: the airlock is open, and then combined to form atmospheric
Speaker 1: oxygen or O two. This process is similar to combustion
Speaker 1: without the flame and smoke and smells similar to which
Speaker 1: might explain the smoky, charred odor that astronauts report. A
Speaker 1: second hypothesis relates to stellar explosions, that is, dying stars.
Speaker 1: Though we've only been studying the night sky for a
Speaker 1: few millennia, the universe is some thirteen point seven billion
Speaker 1: years old. Our Solar system is estimated to be about
Speaker 1: four and a half billion years old. This means that
Speaker 1: for literally billions of years before Solar System ever formed,
Speaker 1: stars were being born and dying across the universe. When
Speaker 1: stars die, it tends to be a dramatic affair, and
Speaker 1: this bombastic process creates compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or
Speaker 1: p h s. P a h s are present throughout
Speaker 1: the Solar System, including here on Earth. They can be
Speaker 1: found in some foods, in coal and oil, among other materials.
Speaker 1: They also occur when coal, tobacco, wood, meat, and other
Speaker 1: substances are burned. Perhaps part of the reasons space has
Speaker 1: a distinctly burnt and charcoal smell is because it, like
Speaker 1: a grill on a summer evening, is emitting smelly p
Speaker 1: H is outside of our Solar system it's not as stinky.
Speaker 1: Other parts of the universe do have compounds and elements
Speaker 1: that create different smells, though't no human is likely to
Speaker 1: or take a big whiff to confirm, but just for example,
Speaker 1: the dust cloud Sagittarius B two has a high concentration
Speaker 1: of ethel formate, which is the compound that gives raspberries
Speaker 1: and rum part of their distinctive odors. So if you
Speaker 1: love a good raspberry dacory, that maybe the corner of
Speaker 1: the universe for you. Today's episode is based on the
Speaker 1: article what does space Smell Like? On how stuff works
Speaker 1: dot Com written by Valerie Cymac. Brain Stuff is production
Speaker 1: of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works
Speaker 1: dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more
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