It would be difficult for any of us Earth-dwellers to imagine what the International Space Station smells like, but we could probably make a decent guess.
The International Space Station is a floating laboratory orbiting 400km above Earth.
More on the Space Station
The Space Station is equivalent in volume to a Boeing 747 and has been occupied continuously for well over two decades years.
Around 300 different people have visited the ISS, which is a considerable amount of human beings to have been confined in an air-tight space, living, breathing, eating, working and going to the toilet.
So what does the International Space Station smell like?
Luckily, astronauts have been vocal about their experiences on board the Space Station, and have revealed how they've perceived its unique smell.
Unsurprisingly, it’s tricky to keep a continuously occupied space station smelling sweet.
American NASA astronaut Scott Kelly told Wired magazine what he thought the International Space Station smells like.
He said "I was touring the Harris County Jail [in Texas], and there’s this room that smells like space station – combination of antiseptic, garbage, and body odour.”
Kelly added that in the absence of gravity, bodily smells – such as farts – tend to linger.
UK astronaut Tim Peake said the ISS smell is “like a barbecue that’s gone wrong”, while Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti mentioned a “peculiar odour” she had to adjust to while working on board the Space Station.
Tim Peake has also spoken about what space smells like, describing it as "like static electricity".
Find out more about this in our guide to why space smells the way it does.
This article originally appeared in the November 2023 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine
