Expert: Heather - 8/26/2004

Question
Me and a couple of my friends have been arguing over whether or not Space smells of anything. Some say that it doesn't because it's a vacuum and we would never be able to smell it anyway, but then we think there must be some kind of debris and gases floating around that if caught and mixed with air or water must have an odour. If it does we are wanting to synthesis it and sell space deodorant. If there is any light that you could shed on the subject it would be very much appreciated.

Thank You

Answer
Hmm, this is a great question. It reminds me of the show Futurama. Professor Farnsworth invented a smell-o-scope, and said every heavenly body had a particular scent. My idea would be that, yes, there can be smell in space, but we cant smell it, allow me to explain. Smell is a particle picked up by the olfactory nerves in our noses. While I believe smell particles can indeed travel in space, we cant take our noses out of our helmets to smell it without dying in the vacume, since there is no air. I believe the smells wouldn't be very plesant, it would smell of the gasses being released by stars and planets and such, so it probably wouldnt sell to great. Keep in mind this is only my opinion, so don't take it as fact. Glad I could help!