Several astronauts have said that space smells different than expected after returning to Earth. According to them, the vast space that surrounds us smells like burnt kebab or something like that.

According to the Daily Star, some say the smell is reminiscent of spent gunpowder or metal welding, but scientists have yet to come to a conclusion about the cause of this strangeness.

Astronauts compared the smell of space to the smell of a burnt barbecue – Photo: Unsplash/Disclosure/ND

Astronauts and the smells of space

According to the Daily Star tabloid, some still say the smell is reminiscent of spent gunpowder or metal welding, but scientists have not yet been able to come to a conclusion about the cause of this oddity.

Experts have even created an aftershave called Space Water, used in astronaut training to prepare them for what they will experience once they reach space.

One theory is that this is the result of the sun’s ultraviolet rays triggering a chemical reaction with the oxygen floating around the International Space Station, creating that oxidized smell.

Another hypothesis is that the smell is caused by molecules released when stars explode, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. They are known precisely for the smell they emit.

But Miranda Nelson, a space flight controller at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Mission Control Center, said both explanations lacked official research data.

Of course, astronauts don’t take their helmets off outside their rockets or the International Space Station to smell space, but when they return inside after a spacewalk, they smell that smell, which has been reported in some cases to be pleasant, while clinging to their costumes. .