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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Neighborhoods Employment Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend October 25, 2006 Since You Asked Not long ago, Oprah Winfrey interviewed space tourist Anousheh Ansari. In the interview, Ansari said she was able to smell what space smells like. She said it smelled like "burnt cookie." My husband says space has no smell and I must have heard wrong. Does space have a smell? -- Ellen T., Medford People say and do strange things on Oprah, Ellen, although Ansari's comments were tame under the Tom Cruise standard of Weird Things to Do on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Advertisement Anousheh Ansari did in fact say what you heard in describing transferring from the Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station last month. Though we could only find anecdotal references to what she said on "Oprah," she detailed the experience in her blog at spaceblog.xprize.org/by-anousheh online: "The time went by really slowly, but finally the moment arrived and they were ready to open the hatch. Mike and Misha called me closer and told me to take a good whiff because this would be the first time I would smell 'space.' "They said it is a very unique smell. As they pulled the hatch open on the Soyuz side, I smelled 'space.' It was strange kind of like burned almond cookie. I said to them, 'It smells like cooking' and they both looked at me like I was crazy and exclaimed: 'Cooking!' "I said, 'Yes sort of like something is burning. I don't know it is hard to explain.' " Contrary to popular belief, space is not a complete vacuum. There is matter floating around and it doesn't take much to create a strong smell (think about the odor added to natural gas to make it reek of rotten eggs). What Ansari smelled is tougher to pin down, and could even be emitted by the spacecraft themselves. International Space Station visitors occasionally have reported a burning odor on the craft, which is probably a little disconcerting. In fact, an oxygen generator on board the ISS emitted a noxious burning odor two days before Ansari boarded, so perhaps she was smelling leftovers from that. Of course, having visited places were bathing is infrequent and knowing the confined spaces and recycled air on board a spaceship, we can imagine space travel is probably a bit more earthy an experience than most folks imagine. Think of your old high school gym's locker room in orbit — without the towel-snapping. Send questions to [email protected] . Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Men's Clothing GMAT Prep Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Discount Hotel Reservations Send Flowers Casinos Canada Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Windermere Van Vleet Trunks, Footlocker Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com