Cory Doctorow's Boing Boing blog is always a fount of odd information. I guess thats why I have my reader pointed there so often. So, I saw this piece written by astronaut Don Petit who is expedition six ISS science officer. Don writing on a NASA blog, offered up some strange information. Space it seems, has a "smell".
Few people have experienced traveling into space. Even fewer have experienced the smell of space. It seems about as improbable as listening to sounds in space, yet space has a definite smell. I had the pleasure of operating the airlock for two of my crewmates while they went on several space walks. Each time, when I repressed the airlock, opened the hatch a peculiar odor tickled my olfactory senses. I noticed that this smell was on their suit, helmet, gloves, and tools. It was more pronounced on fabrics. The best description I can come up with is metallic. It reminded me of...an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment....welding fumes.
Weird huh? Click here for Mr. Petit's complete article
Few people have experienced traveling into space. Even fewer have experienced the smell of space. It seems about as improbable as listening to sounds in space, yet space has a definite smell. I had the pleasure of operating the airlock for two of my crewmates while they went on several space walks. Each time, when I repressed the airlock, opened the hatch a peculiar odor tickled my olfactory senses. I noticed that this smell was on their suit, helmet, gloves, and tools. It was more pronounced on fabrics. The best description I can come up with is metallic. It reminded me of...an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment....welding fumes.
Weird huh? Click here for Mr. Petit's complete article
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