Astronauts couldn’t smell the Moon’s surface due to their helmets, but upon returning to their ships, they noticed the dust smelled like gunpowder. Despite the similarity, the two substances have different chemical compositions, and there are concerns about the harmful effects of lunar dust.
No one was actually able to smell the surface of the Moon, because the visiting astronauts had kept their faces inside their spacesuit helmets so they could breathe. The surface of the Moon is covered in a fine dust, also called lunar soil or moon dust, which adheres to astronauts’ space suits, boots and gloves. When they returned to their ships, the astronauts observed that the moondust smelled like gunpowder. Many astronauts have experience handling firearms, so it makes sense that they’d be able to identify the gunpowder-like smell of lunar soil.
Read more about moon dust:
Astronauts have described the lunar soil as soft and abrasive.
There is significant concern in the scientific community that lunar dust could have harmful effects on the health of astronauts and spacecraft machinery.
Despite the similarity in fragrance, gunpowder and moondust do not have the same chemical composition. Scientists don’t understand why the substances smell so similar, although some have suggested that moondust only smells like gunpowder after being brought into the relatively humid atmosphere of a spacecraft.
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