How does smell travel through space?
One explanation is that the smell is due to a chemical reaction which occurs within the spacecraft during re-pressurisation. The process is known as oxidation—similar to burning but with no smoke. In space, atomic oxygen (single atoms) can cling to a spacesuit’s fabric, to tools and potentially even to air-lock walls.
How does scent travel?
Smells travel through the air by a process called diffusion; air particles, and the odour particles within the air, move freely in all directions. They are constantly moving and eventually they spread out through the air around them. Some people have no sense of smell, or they lose it during their lifetime.
Is there a smell in outer space?
Astronauts have reported smelling “burned” or “fried” steak after a space walk, and they aren’t just dreaming of a home-cooked meal. The smell of space is so distinct that, three years ago, NASA reached out to Steven Pearce of the fragrance maker Omega Ingredients to re-create the odor for its training simulations.
What does deep space smell like?
“The best description I can come up with is metallic; a rather pleasant, sweet metallic sensation.” Other astronauts have likened its aroma to “hot metal”, “seared steak” and, according to Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan, “spent gunpowder”.
What is the smell of sperm?
Semen normally smells like ammonia, bleach, or chlorine. Semen is about 1 percent sperm and 99 percent other compounds, enzymes, proteins, and minerals. Many of these substances are alkaline.
How fast does scent travel?
There’s no “speed of scent”. Gases mix at a relatively slow rate and are subject to drafts and winds. Originally Answered: What is the speed of smell? The speed of an amount of gas diffussing from one point to another varies largely, there is no one speed that a smell travels at.
Does odor travel through water?
In practice, smell spreads through water or air via mixing, or currents. The water is always in motion: tides, temperature gradients, wind, fish swimming, Coriolis forces, etc all keep the water moving (though on different scales). This motion of the water carries smell molecules with it.