---
title: "New Details Emerge About the “Peculiar Odor” on International Space Station"
description: "There's still no definitive answer as to what that bizarre smell is on the ISS, but a new report may provide some clues — and they're pretty gross."
date: "2022-12-08"
modified: "2022-12-08"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/new-details-iss-smell"
categories:
  - "International Space Station"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "international space station"
  - "iss"
  - "space smells"
  - "the digest"
---

# New Details Emerge About the “Peculiar Odor” on International Space Station

![There's still no definitive answer as to what that bizarre smell is on the ISS, but a new report may provide some clues — and they're pretty gross.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/smellyspace.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Getty / Futurism\</em\>*

## Making Scents

The International Space Station, as a small enclosed space filled with 20 years of nonstop human bodies, is notorious for [harboring a bit of a "peculiar odor](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronaut-odor-space-station>)."

The issue has been linked to its [bathroom facilities](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/space-station-toilet-smells-horrible>) and [trash](<https://www.cnet.com/science/space/iss-astronaut-maps-out-the-stinkiest-spots-on-the-space-station/>), with one former astronaut [quipping that](<https://www.wired.com/story/astronaut-scott-kelly-explains-how-the-iss-is-like-harris-county-jail/>) the orbital outpost overall smells like "jail."

In reality, the pong is probably a mixture of all those factors and more. One additional culprit, according to a new [*Fast Company* story](<https://www.fastcompany.com/90820024/how-colgate-palmolive-nasa-and-an-astronaut-are-teaming-for-better-space-hygiene>): dirty laundry.

## Clothes Line

Former astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman told the magazine that astronauts' dirty laundry may be a key culprit. In particular, she dished, some of her fellow astronauts' have a propensity for re-wearing their dirty workout gear — remember, astronauts have to [exercise vigorously](<https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/29/16217348/nasa-iss-how-do-astronauts-exercise-in-space>) to minimize the loss of bone density and muscle mass — in what became a sort of gross-out locker room-style game.

"We weren’t supposed to use \[the same clothes\] longer than a week or two," the NASA astronaut told *FastCo*. "But despite having a lot of gym clothes onboard, some of the crew were pleased to be conserving supplies — and determined to break the record for longest use of gym clothes."

As gross as that sounds, it gets worse. Some crew members were also throwing out their sweaty rags while they were still damp, which alongside being really nasty was also messing with the ship's water levels.

"We recycle all the water — actually collect the humidity out of the air," she added. "When one of the crews started stuffing them wet into the bags on the trash ship, it changed the entire water balance of the station."

## Tides Turn

Naturally, in the era of NASA's [relentless focus on corporate partnerships](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-robust-economy-space-habitats>), the private sector purports to be working on a solution.

In a freshly inked deal with NASA in which Coleman is a strategic adviser, *FastCo* reports, Colgate-Palmolive says it will be drawing on the former astronaut's subject matter expertise to develop "more advanced and sustainable products" to "improve astronaut oral and skin health."

And maybe it'll even lead to new strategies to freshen up the musky ISS.

**More on the ISS:** [*Astronauts Spot World's Largest Polluters from Space Station*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/iss-methane-emissions>)

## 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](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)