Most of us will never venture into space, let alone have the chance to smell it...mostly because you'd freeze to death before you could realize there's no air. But that doesn't mean there's no smell to it.
Said astronaut Don Pettit:
Each time, when I repressed the airlock, opened the hatch and welcomed two tired workers inside, a peculiar odor tickled my olfactory senses. At first I couldn’t quite place it. It must have come from the air ducts that re-pressed the compartment. Then I noticed that this smell was on their suit, helmet, gloves, and tools. It was more pronounced on fabrics than on metal or plastic surfaces. It is hard to describe this smell; it is definitely not the olfactory equivalent to describing the palette sensations of some new food as “tastes like chicken.” The best description I can come up with is metallic; a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation. It reminded me of my college summers where I labored for many hours with an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment for a small logging outfit. It reminded me of pleasant sweet smelling welding fumes. That is the smell of space.
So, what could be causing these smells? Scientists now believe it's polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are formed during star combustion. They are also found on Earth, in everything from car exhaust to bacon...and fortunately they have varying odors (exhaust flavored bacon would suck). And three years ago, astronomers reported that a dust cloud at the center of the Milky Way includes ethyl formate molecules - one of the compounds behind the flavor of raspberries and the scent of rum. It may be 26,000 light years away, but at least there's something potentially decent to smell out there.
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