NASA has hired fragrance maker Steven Pearce to whip up a space-smelling perfume to help train astronauts. Now you might be saying to yourself, “Isn’t space a vacuum? You can’t smell anything in a vacuum! NASA should know this! Is Sarah Palin running NASA now?” Well, cool your jets. NASA’s only looking to recreate the smells of space travel, which would be those aromas you’ll sniff on board the International Space Station or the Space Shuttle while in orbit. According to astronauts, space smells an awful lot like hot metal, welding, and fried steak. In other words, space smells manly. Also, apparently, space smells pretty cruel. How are you supposed to concentrate on whatever it is astronauts do when you’re constantly being tempted with fried steak smell? Especially when NASA’s idea of fried steak is a kind of chalky brick in a shiny plastic pouch. More details here.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Smell of Space
