Eau de Space is the result of an innovative project to create a fragrance which smells like space and can be used to train astronauts to prepare for space travel.
‘Eau de Space’, a new fragrance created mimics the scent characteristics distinct to space – a mixture of “gunpowder, seared steak, raspberries, and rum” according to NASA astronauts who have made the journey.
“Decades ago, NASA contracted specialists to develop the ‘smell of space’ to help train astronauts before launch into orbit,” the Kickstarter campaign explains. “Nasa’s goal of simulating space during training is to eliminate any surprises astronauts might experience in outer space.” According to the campaign, the scent of space has, for years, been “locked behind astronaut-only field training, and red tape.”
To recreate the fragrance, which Peggy Whitson, an astronaut and former resident of the International Space Station, previously described to CNN as “almost a bitter kind of smell in addition to being smoky and burnt,” the company says it teamed up with award-winning perfumers.
Co-developed by NASA and Steve Pearce, a chemist and founder of Omega Ingredients, a company focused on the “creation of the highest quality, provenance has driven, natural flavours and ingredients for the food and beverage industry,” Eau de Space is supposed to accurately represent the actual smell of space.
Other than allowing the masses to get their hands on this one-of-a-kind fragrance, the company also hopes to generate an increased interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
