# could you ever smoke a cigarette in space... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450 "2002-10-16T03:25:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elementzero1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@elementzero1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elementzero1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/1 "2002-10-16T03:25:18Z")
and would it ever be possible to live permanently in space on the ISS.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/2 "2002-10-16T03:50:02Z")
The master speaks: [If you lit a match in zero gravity, would it smother in its own smoke?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_360.html) Yay I finally got to do that! ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/3 "2002-10-16T03:51:47Z")
Question 1: Yes, assuming sufficient oxygen and an airflow. Question 2: Yes, for an individual. There is no reason that a person could not stay there until death. Hard to say how soon that death would be. If the supply runs stopped, pretty damn quick. Are you asking about a self-sustaining population, not de[endent on supplies from earth? If yes, then no. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![andy\_fl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@andy\_fl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andy_fl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/4 "2002-10-16T03:55:02Z")
Disabling outer space smoke detectors is a galactic offence punishable by life long hearing of vogon poetry. ---
**Author:** ![Mikahw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mikahw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikahw)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/5 "2002-10-16T04:04:08Z")
You can’t smoke a cig in space because there’s no oxygen. 😃 Okay, fine. If you meant in a space station, then the answer is still probably no. Sure it might be technically possible to smoke in there, but they’re not going to let you because of the limited oxygen supply. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@The\_Bad\_Astronomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bad_Astronomer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/6 "2002-10-16T05:19:26Z")
Since space is a vacuum, you wouldn’t be able to draw the smoke in, even if there were some way to keep the tobacco lit (self-oxidizing?). So technically, the OP answer is “no”. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/7 "2002-10-16T05:58:55Z")
Yeah, you’d have to get your friend blow into the lit end. Not fun for either of you. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2002, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/8 "2002-10-16T06:01:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mikahw \* > \*\*You can’t smoke a cig in space because there’s no oxygen. 😃 > \*\* [Homer] There’s an Air In Space Museum. [/Homer] ---
**Author:** ![elementzero1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@elementzero1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elementzero1)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/9 "2002-10-17T16:43:35Z")
hmmm… well that’s what i figured, i was always curious. does anyone think that far in the future when we have people who acutualy live in space, that it could be possible to say, have a room to smoke in, or burn candles. ect… ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/10 "2002-10-17T16:48:28Z")
I don’t think they would prohibit it because of the limited supply of oxygen – I mean, weren’t those guys in _Das Boot_ smoking like chimneys? – but because it would make the air really nasty for anyone else who had to breathe it. ---
**Author:** ![elementzero1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@elementzero1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elementzero1)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/11 "2002-10-17T16:51:10Z")
yeah, true. i always figured that since smoking is harmful to health they would just be like, no one is allowed to smoke in space. ---
**Author:** ![Mikahw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Mikahw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikahw)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/12 "2002-10-17T19:11:37Z")
> [@](#): > > weren’t those guys in Das Boot smoking like chimneys? It’s just a movie. Likewise, I’ve seen many movies where they were smoking in space ships. This is getting off the topic a bit, but they didn’t really smoke in subs, did they? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2002, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/13 "2002-10-17T23:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mikahw \* > \*\*This is getting off the topic a bit, but they didn’t really smoke in subs, did they? \*\* They did, and still do. When I was first attached to a sub in 1989, smoking was permitted throughout the boat, except in berthing areas and the wardroom (none of the officers smoked). By the early 1990’s, most subs had established a designated smoking area, or at the CO’s whim, declared the sub to be “smoke free.” There were no end of problems with hard-core smokers assigned to smoke-free subs; I personally knew of one officer who went UA before deployment because he couldn’t take it anymore. Soon thereafter, there was a directive that ALL subs must have a designated smoking area. While this prevented people from smoking in the control room, it also had the (unintended?) effect of eliminating smoke-free subs. The smoking area on my sub was back in the engine room, lower level, right above the bilge. It was a thoroughly miserable, dank, and smoke-filled place. It also averaged 3-10 people smoking 24/7. BTW, you might be wondering how the atmosphere control equipment deals with cigarette smoke. There are CO-H[sub]2[/sub] burners that convert the CO to CO[sub]2[/sub] (and hydrogen to water vapor). The carbon dioxide is then removed with the CO[sub]2[/sub] scrubbers. Any other impurities remaining are generally not worried about. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/14 "2002-10-18T00:45:28Z")
Yes, assuming there was airflow in the station, I believe you could. The only thing is, If I had built and designed a multibillion dollar machine that couldn’t be fixed without much difficulty or threat to life, I wouldn’t allow open flame just so some guy could get his cigarette fix. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-you-ever-smoke-a-cigarette-in-space/132450/15 "2002-10-18T00:51:07Z")
Or cigarette smoke near sensitive equipment.