The Moon Smells Like Gunpowder
After a moonwalk in April 1972, the Apollo 16 astronauts Charles Duke and John Young returned to their capsule. In the process of putting their suits and other things away, Duke commented to Ground Control:
Duke: Houston, the lunar dust smells like gunpowder. [Pause]
England: We copy that, Charlie.
Duke: Really, really a strong odor to it.
Now, obviously these astronauts weren’t taking their helmets off and taking a big whiff of the non-existent lunar atmosphere; that’s a way to a nasty death. They were safely back in the lunar module and just sniffing the air. For all their care in collecting specimens, the lunar dust had clung to their suits; and, shaken loose once returned to the craft, it was free to float around the module and get in everyone’s noses. And into their mouths:
