Back during the Apollo program, astronauts swore the surface of the moon smelled like gunpowder. Now they’re saying the vacuum of space smells like fried steak.
Technically, they aren’t smelling space itself. After returning to their shuttle/space station, they can probably smell particles that got stuck to their suits. Other than fried steak, other astronauts have reported odors of hot metal and motorbike welding.
The most likely culprit? Their own spacecraft, claims Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore, since a vacuum doesn’t smell like anything. “Boys or girls attempting to go to space because they think there is fried steak flying about might be disappointed.” Sir Moore is, appropriately, British.
Meanwhile…
Another gorgeous Autumn weekend in Chicago, which propelled me to spend all of yesterday exploring the North Side of the city with my camera (see my photostream). Other than that, Chicago is suffering from a budget crisis at the hands of a corrupt mayor, waging a PR war for the 2016 Olympics, overhauling its struggling police department, and hosting an international film festival with the worst website ever.
