What Does Mars Smell Like? #space #science #scifi #Mars #solarsystem #Moon

We know what space smells like because people have been there.

Clinging to suit, helmet, gloves, and tools of astronauts returning from space walks is a metallic odor, “pleasant sweet smelling welding fumes” says ISS Science Officer Don Pettit. nasa.gov/spacechronicles

We know what the moon smells like, too.

According to Apollo astronauts, moon dust “smells like spent gunpowder,” and tastes “not half bad.” nasa.gov/smellofmoondust

No one has sniffed Martian dust yet, at least not with a human nose.

But future missions “could take a spectroscopic reading of the Martian atmosphere, then beam that information back to Earth” where the molecules could be recreated for anyone to sniff. Expect “sulfur, acids, magnesium, iron and chlorine compounds, all of which are sunbaked and wrapped in a carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere.” scientificamerican.com/mars-smell-like

In my science fiction stories about the first colony on Mars, I started with the smell of the Moon and added metallic overtones. But it’s acrid, too. I’ve worked in oil refineries and in copper extraction plants – sulfur is a strong part of the smell in both places and not pleasant at all.

I wonder how close I got? Read one of my books and see for yourself. Can’t smell for yourself yet. You’ll have to use your imagination for now.

Filed under: Kate's Books, Neat Science News, Science Fiction Tagged: astronaut, ISS International Space Station, NASA, what does Mars smell like? Colony on Mars, what does moon dust smell like, What does space smell like