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"Russian cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) revealed the most unusual smells they had experienced in orbit - and many other fun insights from their time in space - during an online Q and A as part of the 'Cosmos with Knowledge' marathon on Tuesday. It comes during Russia's first ever national Space Week. One participant asked: "They say that after a spacewalk, a spacesuit smells like raspberries. Is that true? My second question is what’s the strangest smell you’ve experienced on the ISS?" "To be honest, I didn’t notice any raspberry smell after a spacewalk. Outer space itself, of course, has no smell, but once you’re back in the airlock, the equipment has a distinct burned-metal odor," said Sergei Kud-Sverchkov. " That’s true whether you’re working from the Russian segment or the American segment after opening the hatch. Inside, after taking off the spacesuit, there’s a smell similar to welding." Kud-Sverchkov added that packages from family and friends on Earth can also evoke strong emotions. "As for the most unusual smells - strange as it may sound - it’s perfume. Sometimes we receive packages from family and friends, and when you open an envelope sealed on Earth, the scent - whether it’s perfume or something else - feels very unusual here. It’s like the smell of Earth or fresh fruit, too - like oranges and apples. Those are some of the most unusual smells up here.," the cosmonaut shared. Kud-Sverchkov was also asked about what foods they most missed: "We’re not very demanding, but everyone misses something different. Personally, I miss freshly prepared food - fresh breakfasts, fresh fruit, maybe ice cream or pastries. Those are things you simply can’t have on the station. But overall, we do just fine without them during the mission." Sergei Krikalev, Roscosmos deputy director general added:"We make up for it once we’re back on Earth." Meanwhile, Andrei Fedyaev was asked about how important it was to keep the ISS clean and tidy - and said that, unlike on Earth, it could be a matter of life or death! "Dust and debris would simply accumulate in the filters, which would eventually need to be cleaned. Otherwise, they’d become clogged. If you left it even longer, the filters would clog completely, airflow would stop, and eventually air circulation on the station would cease. It would be a problem. But again, that never happens - we make sure to clean every week," Fedyaev said. Sergei Mikayev spoke about their lengthy training ahead of selection - and said it was definitely worth the long hours - after Russia launched the latest candidate selection process for future cosmonauts. "The training process was indeed very long. But if we focus on the final stage - preparing for exams on the crewed spacecraft and the Russian segment of the ISS - the training becomes quite intense. You go through all kinds of emergency scenarios, including complex simulations, and practise spacewalk tasks for extravehicular activity. Of course, there was fatigue, but we never felt like giving up," he said. The very first Space Week involves a number of high profile events in Moscow on April 6-12, bringing together industry professionals, scientists and media representatives. "
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