# THIS Needs To Be On The Next Planetary Lander! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 1, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279 "2007-04-01T07:15:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279/1 "2007-04-01T07:15:29Z")
[The story’s over a year old and has probably been mentioned before.](http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jul06/comments/1451) > [@](#): > > A team of Japanese scientists has developed a device that can transmit odors electronically. Led by Takamichi Nakamoto of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the group claims that their, as yet unnamed, system can record and replicate a broad range of scents by using chips with sensors that capture the molecular components of a particular fragrance, transmit this formula to a replicator, and reproduce the chemical compound. > > “The sensitivity of the human nose is very good,” Nakamoto told the Associated Press this week. “But to some extent we can replicate the performance.” > > Nakamoto, who has been working on the system for 17 years, said the device could one day be implemented in mobile phones, enabling users to transmit the smell of just about anything to anyone, anywhere. For instance, it could let you send the fragrance of fresh flowers to a particularly close friend or relative. Or it could be put to less pleasant uses (the mind boggles). When I first heard of the device, I thought that it was pretty stupid, but then it occurred to me: Put it on a Mars lander, and we’d know what Mars smells like! Thanks to the Apollo missions we know that the Moon smells like spent gunpowder. Knowing what Mars (or Jupiter, or Venus, or Neptune, or any of the other planets in the system with an atmosphere) smelled like would tell us a few new things about the planet, as well as just be freakin’ cool, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279/2 "2007-04-01T07:23:39Z")
What does Uranus smell like? ---
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279/3 "2007-04-01T08:25:08Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Thanks to the Apollo missions we know that the Moon smells like spent gunpowder. [/QUOTE] Seeing as the moon has no atmosphere, I _really_ want an explanation of how it smells like anything. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279/4 "2007-04-01T08:28:45Z")
[QUOTE=Autolycus] What does Uranus smell like? [/QUOTE] Threadwinner!!! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279/5 "2007-04-01T09:06:54Z")
[QUOTE=straight man] Seeing as the moon has no atmosphere, I _really_ want an explanation of how it smells like anything. [/QUOTE] What **Tuckerfan’s** referring to is the observation by Armstrong and Aldrin, when they re-entered the Lunar Module, that the dust they’d picked up on their suits during the moonwalk smelled similar to burnt gunpowder. Obviously, you’re right: the Moon has no atmosphere, and therefore no smell as such. I assume Tuckerfan used the smell of moon dust as an illustration simply because it’s the only instance we have of an odour from another planetary body. It does raise an interesting question, though: I’m under the impression that part of the “smell” of burnt gunpowder (or burnt anything) is caused by rough-surfaced particles in the smoke prickling against the sensitive lining of the nose. Particles of Moon dust are rough-surfaced because, without an atmosphere, they’ve never undergone any erosion to smooth them off. So moon dust “smells” burnt not because of its chemical composition (which I imagine is what the Japanese smell replicator samples) but because of the shape of the particles (which I can’t see the replicator being able to … um… replicate). So even if we did send a smell-replicator to another planet, we still may not be getting an accurate olfactory picture. It would still be cool though. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279/6 "2007-04-01T11:27:08Z")
I think they should put a plaque on it that says: So sorry for the litter, you can return this unit to Earth for the $50,000 deposit at anytime. The rocks were put into canister’s that had rubber seals and the seals were damaged by the dust. The idea wa to keep the rocks in the same conditions they originaly were found in. The atmosphere of the cabin reacted with the rock samples, and the cabin smelled like gunpowder having just exploded. The smell of firing a bullet. One astronaut had more of a reaction than the others and was having breathing problems. It was like severe hayfever for him. Remember this next time the government says don’t worry, it’s in quarintine. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2007, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-needs-to-be-on-the-next-planetary-lander/398279/7 "2007-04-01T11:36:04Z")
I fear for our future if the tabloids get this technology. They will “smell-tap” celebrities. What did Britney and K-Fed smell like as they negotiated their divorce? On the more interesting side, I can see a lot of use for this on porn sites. Forget other planets. There’s so much unsmelled right here on earth!