In 1998, Nasa sent a rose into space and found microgravity changed its scent

A small rose plant spent nine days travelling around Earth aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1998. It was not there simply as a botanical curiosity. The flower, ‘Overnight Scentsation’, had been selected for an experiment that asked a surprisingly specific question: would a rose smell the same without Earth’s gravity? When the shuttle returned, the answer was no. The flower had produced fewer volatile oils than its Earth-grown counterparts, and the balance of its fragrance had shifted. The change was subtle enough to require laboratory analysis, but distinctive enough to interest the perfume industry. The resulting scent was eventually turned into a commercial fragrance ingredient known as the “space rose” note.Why Nasa selected Overnight Scentsation for the 1998 space rose experiment‘Overnight Scentsation’ was not an arbitrary flower picked for a trip into orbit. The miniflora rose, created by hybridiser F. Harm Saville in 1990, was already known for having an unusually strong fragrance. According to the American Rose Society, it came from a cross between the floribunda ‘Taxi’ and the miniature rose ‘Lavender Jade’. It entered commercial cultivation in 1999, although its journey i...