--- title: "What Does the Moon Smell Like?" description: "Ever wanted to know what the Moon smells like? According to NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin, it has a very distinctive and particular odor." date: "2023-04-18" modified: "2023-04-18" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/moon-smell-scent-sculptor" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "buzz aldrin" - "lunar dust" - "the digest" - "the moon" --- # What Does the Moon Smell Like? ![Ever wanted to know what the Moon smells like? According to NASA astronaut Buzz Aldrin, it smells like spent gunpowder.]() *\Image: NASA / Futurism\* ## Moon Smell Ever wondered what the Moon smells like? In an [article for the journal *Nature*](), French "scent sculptor" and retired science consultant Michael Moisseeff said his latest creation was inspired by the descriptions of what the lunar surface smells like from one of the first people to walk on the Moon over half a century ago. "I based the \[odor\] I manufactured — like that of spent gunpowder — on Buzz Aldrin’s description of what he smelt when he took off his helmet in the lunar module on the Moon in 1969," Moisseeff wrote. The consultant is working on a scent for the Space City museum in Toulouse, France, which is near where he lives and works. ## Spent Gunpowder In his 2009 book "[Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home from the Moon]()," Aldrin, the second man to ever walk the lunar surface, recalled that when he and fellow pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong got back into their lander and realized they were covered in lunar dust, they were met with "a pungent metallic smell, something like gunpowder, or the smell in the air after a firecracker has gone off." In a [2015]() [*Space.com* interview](), Aldrin expounded on his description of the Moon's aroma, describing it as smelling "like burnt charcoal, or similar to the ashes that are in a fireplace, especially if you sprinkle a little water on them." ## Regolithique Aldrin wasn't the only Apollo astronaut to comment on the gunpowder-like smell of the Moon's regolith. "All I can say is that everyone's instant impression of the smell was that of spent gunpowder, not that it was 'metallic' or 'acrid,'" Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, an Apollo 17 astronaut who was on one of the last missions to the Moon in 1972, told *Space.com*. "Spent gunpowder smell probably was much more implanted in our memories than other comparable odors." Unless spacefaring technology becomes rapidly cheaper and more accessible in the next few decades, most of us won't get the chance to ever smell the Moon for ourselves. But fortunately, we may get the chance to smell an imitation in Toulouse, France, or anywhere else where crafty "scent sculptors" are [simulating the aroma of lunar dust](). **More on Moon materials:** [*Ex-SpaceX Brothers Working on Spacecraft Powered by Moon Water*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()