EAU DE SPACE: THE NASA-DESIGNED FRAGRANCE THAT SMELLS LIKE OUTER SPACE

SMELL OUT OF THIS WORLD (LITERALLY)

Have you’ve ever wondered what outer space smells like, this new perfume may answer that for you. There’s Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign that recently launched a unique new fragrance called Eau de Space bringing the smell of outer space back down to Earth.

 

According to Eau de Space product manager, Matt Richmond, the fragrance was developed by Steve Pearce, a chemist and the founder of Omega Ingredients, a company focused on the “creation of the highest quality, provenance driven, natural flavours and ingredients for the food and beverage industry,”

 

According to an interview with CNN, Pearce was originally contracted by NASA to recreate the smell in 2008, after Pearce worked on a scent exhibition for which he recreated the smell of the inside of the Mir Space Station.

The notes used in Eau de Space were from astronauts who described space smelling like ozone, hot metal and fried steak, then Pearce used his knowledge of fragrance and flavour chemistry to produce the combination matching those descriptions.

The recreation of the smell took Pearce a few weeks to get the “right aroma chemicals” then he tried out a few ideas before arriving at perfect scent composition.

 

Eau de Space was created to help astronauts prepare before launching in orbit, and it was part of NASA’s goal of getting astronuats accustomed to space experiences while in training, eliminating any potential surprises astronauts might encounter or experience in space, according to the Kickstarter page.

According to Peggy Whitson, an astronaut and former resident of the International Space Station,”It’s kind of like a smell from a gun, right after you fire the shot,” she told in an CNN back in 2002 interview “I think it kind of has almost a bitter kind of smell in addition to being smoky and burned.” she added.

Richmond has struggled to describe how Eau de Space smells, adding, “Astronauts describe the smell as a mix of gunpowder, seared steak, raspberries and rum.”

 

The company’s main objective with Eau de Space is to increase awareness and interest in STEM learning for K-12 students through “experiential education.” says Richmond. He hopes that Eau de Space will start the discussion, with education units taking it from there.

Richmond also revealed that they are looking into developing a fragrance called Smell of the Moon based on the hype around Eau de Space.