"The Aroma of the Cosmos: Unveiling the Scent of Space"

Astronauts often describe a unique smell after returning from spacewalks, comparing it to burnt steak, spent gunpowder, and hot metal. While no one has directly smelled space and lived to tell the tale, the scent is believed to come from chemical reactions triggered by atomic oxygen clinging to spacesuits and other items exposed to space, as well as potential molecules from dying stars. NASA commissioned a scent called Eau de Space to simulate the smell of space for astronaut training, based on astronauts' descriptions. However, there is limited data from official studies on the origin of the smell.