Michaël Moisseeff is a “Nose”, and is well accustomed to exploring new scents. He has come up with a scent which recreates the odour that the astronauts experienced when they went to the Moon.

He sees himself as an “aroma sculptor”. A creator of scents, and a “Nose”, Michaël Moisseeff is the first person to have recreated a very particular odour: that of the Moon. To achieve this he relied on descriptions provided by the astronauts. “They had their spacesuits on, with their helmets on their heads and all their inner and outer gear, so obviously they weren’t able to smell anything. However, when they got back to their module and could remove their helmets, and take off their spacesuits, the odour inside the module changed and smelled of this burnt black powder”, he reveals.

Michaël Moisseeff then unveils the mysteries of his lunar fragrance. “We’re talking here about minerals, so de-sulphurised coal, and also calcium compounds. An odour is a material thing, molecules circulating in the air which enter through the nostrils, which is where the sensor is located. And in this sensor there are small locks, and you have to think of these small odour molecules as little keys”, he explains.

The odour of the Moon can be discovered at the Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne). The goal being to “provide the visitor with a sensation as original as that experienced by the astronauts on the Moon”, according to Xavier Penot, Scientific Mediator at the Cité de l'Espace. A Chinese probe has already landed in January 2019, while the lunar programmes of South Korea and Japan are targeting the end of 2020 and 2021. The United States is preparing for its return to the lunar surface by 2024.