An astronaut tells about her experience with the smell of the International Space Station

“It’s easy to get used to the smell, but you should avoid the trash and the toilet,” European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti commented on the smell of astronauts’ housing in space, saying that there is a persistent “strange smell” aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which may take a few days. to get used to it.

According to the American “space”, Samantha added, “When I arrived here two months ago on my second trip, I could immediately smell a very strange smell that immediately brought me back to the memories and sensations of the smells of my first trip…but within days, I got used to it. Now I can’t feel that smell anymore.”

Cristoforetti did not explain what the ISS smells like, although it did reveal that the space station’s capable filters remove most odors.

Other astronauts have commented on space smells like gunpowder or ozone, especially because atomic oxygen is thought to cling to spacesuits in a vacuum.

Cristoforetti also presented aspiring ISS visitors with a selection of smelly places to avoid on the space station.

The crew of Expedition 67 at the orbiting laboratory was packing trash at high altitude inside the Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship about to leave the International Space Station.

Other adverse odors are emitted from the space station toilet, and the toilet is designed to recycle urine into potable water; However, there is always something left after this process is complete.

Cristoforetti said the system evaporates the rest of the urine, and the exhaust can be smelly despite such a large filter.

But the ESA astronaut reassured her 600,000 followers on TikTok that apart from these pesky areas, the International Space Station is free of bad fragrances. “Other than that, the space station smells very nice,” she said.