…gunpowder. The latest installment in NASA’s Apollo Chronicles is all about the smell of Moondust. Apparently, the stuff would make its way back into the landers stuck to boots and gloves. From Science@NASA:
“It is really a strong smell,” radioed Apollo 16 pilot Charlie Duke. “It has that taste — to me, [of] gunpowder — and the smell of gunpowder, too.” On the next mission, Apollo 17, Gene Cernan remarked, “smells like someone just fired a carbine in here.”…
What is moondust made of? Almost half is silicon dioxide glass created by meteoroids hitting the moon. These impacts, which have been going on for billions of years, fuse topsoil into glass and shatter the same into tiny pieces. Moondust is also rich in iron, calcium and magnesium bound up in minerals such as olivine and pyroxene. It’s nothing like gunpowder.
So why the smell? No one knows.