The Viking landers demonstrated that the surface fines ("soil" and "dust") are intensely oxidising.
I would thus expect an acrid tang. Not as fruity as citric acid or as sharply penetrating as Hcl or H2SO4, but in the same sort of league. Maybe redolent of vinegar, but without the organic/aromatic overtones.
There would also be some of the same hints of flavour/scent that come with rain onto bare earth after a long drought.
It would probably make you sneeze because it's very fine and has chemical activity.
It might irritate the nose and lungs, so it would be a potential hazard. Under surface conditions it's not a potent oxidant - the rover wheels haven't etched away, but at room temperature in a moist environment, the chemical activity seen by Viking would be expressed.
It would be reasonably straightforward to simulate this with finely ground basalt activated by intense UV radiation under vacuum. Now who can we get as a Guinea Pig?
Space/Science » in reply to Here is the chemistry explanation.
What we know of Marsdust
The whole thread (13 posts)
- The Smell of Moondust
- Any speculation on what Mars dust will smell like
