If we ever had the opportunity to visit other planets in the Solar System, we might be slightly disappointed as the prevailing smells there won’t be pleasant. Astronauts who participated in the Apollo mission reported that the Moon smells like gunpowder, while the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn’s moon, resembles a gas station. Comets often contain molecules of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, so their scent is comparable to that emanating from a toilet. Gas giants around the Sun, such as Uranus and Neptune, have large amounts of methane, suggesting that they smell like freshly baked cow dung cakes.
However, not all scents in space are unpleasant. For example, the toxic hydrogen cyanide (HCN) smells like almonds and is present on Uranus’s moon, Enceladus.
Scientists have just discovered that Uranus emits sulfurous farts or odors. The composition of the clouds covering the gas giant consists of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) – a gas with a characteristic scent reminiscent of rotten eggs and winds after consuming certain foods.
Additionally, Uranus and Neptune contain molecules of ammonia (NH3), which resemble the unpleasant smell of a neglected urinal resulting from the presence of ammonia responsible for the specific odor of urine. Methane (CH4), also present on Uranus, gives the gas giant its blue color, but unfortunately an unpleasant smell.
Astronomers claim that the scent on Uranus would be unbearable. Breathing it would cause nausea and other unpleasant symptoms. The chemistry in space is fascinating, but experiencing it directly could prove unpleasant.
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