Space. The final frontier, and presumably smell free. Apparently not, scientists are trying re-create the smell reported by astronauts after they remove their suit following a space walk.
‘Hot metal and fried steak’ was one description. It’s a bizarre concept that 99% of the universe should smell like a welder cutting metal in a rotisserie, but also strangely fitting. If I were asked to imagine what space smelt of, then I would say it was bitter, tangy, harsh and clinical, like the charged and heavy air during a storm.
My understanding of space is that it is literally the space between matter, where there is no atmosphere because there are no molecules: a vacuum. Since smell relies on the detection of air molecules it follows that space would be odourless. Testing this theory is impossible; on the first sniff our heads would explode with the pressure.
But it's logical to suggest that if exposure to space were to be a trigger for a chemical reaction in matter, then that could accompany a new smell. What could cause such a reaction? Background radiation in the universe slowly microwaving everything it comes in contact with? Perhaps all smells are based upon a reaction with the earth’s atmosphere, take away that atmosphere and smells become skewed. Similarly, maybe space walking makes astronauts’ sensory perceptions go awry; space fever taking hold. My view on space has changed forever and I’m eager to discover the full explanation.
