Colin Snodgrass is unwrapping a series of nested plastic bags with the care you would normally reserve for bomb disposal. With the first layer off, I already understand why, as a sharp, unpleasant scent invades my nostrils.
I鈥檓 getting my first whiff of eau de com猫te, a perfume crafted to mimic the aroma of 67P/Churyumov鈥揋erasimenko as sniffed by the European Space Agency鈥檚 Philae lander, which touched down on the comet鈥檚 surface in 2014. It really is like nothing I鈥檝e ever smelled.
The dense pong was created by scent firm at the request of , a researcher at the Open University in Milton Keynes, UK, and other members of the Rosetta mission team. They will be handing out samples at the in London next month. 鈥淲e have a bunch of postcards impregnated with this,鈥� he says.
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As Snodgrass removes the second bag, I almost feel the smell as a physical presence inside my skull, and yet there are two more bags to go. I ask if he has become desensitised. 鈥淎 little, yes,鈥� he says with a grin.
When Philae landed on 67P, its sensors picked up the presence of hydrogen sulphide, ammonia and hydrogen cyanide in the comet鈥檚 coma 鈥� gases which smell of rotten eggs, cat urine and bitter almonds.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not that bad鈥�
The smell before me isn鈥檛 directly derived from these noxious compounds 鈥� good thing, given that some are poisonous 鈥� but the company created a scent that should reflect the whiff of 67P. 鈥淢ost of the coma is water vapour, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, and they don鈥檛 smell of anything,鈥� says Snodgrass. 鈥淲e鈥檝e picked the things that are the smelliest.鈥�
As he opens up the final bag, the full heft of 67P鈥檚 bouquet hits me in the face. Surprisingly, it鈥檚 not actually as foul as my first impression led me to believe 鈥� somehow a few floral notes are now coming through. 鈥淚 find it similar to lily,鈥� says of University College London, who took delivery of the samples at home, much to the chagrin of his wife. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that bad,鈥� says Snodgrass.
Thankfully, the sample the pair have today is far more concentrated than those they will be inflicting on the public. If you can鈥檛 get to the Royal Society to smell it yourself, the team has bought enough postcards for future outreach events, so you may get another chance.
But can we really transmit a smell from a comet half way across the Milky Way? 鈥淚f you could smell a comet, this is what you would get, but it would be difficult to actually smell it,鈥� says Snodgrass. 鈥淚f you are standing there without your space suit, you鈥檙e not going to notice the smell, you鈥檙e just going to notice the lack of air.鈥�
