My Cousin George

[Trout Commander]

Tip her? Hell with that, I married her!

And that's why bartenders should not drink on the job kids. They make bad decisions and marry Cricket.

[FishinCricket]

Man, do the questions just start to flow from my weird little brain or what?

What do the engineers do when George identifies a strong odor coming from something? How do they re-engineer it to be less offensive in odor?

If smells are magnified in space, what do the other astronauts do when one of them farts? How long do the "courtesy sniffs" go on before the smell goes away?

Do you think there's ever a time when the stench gets to em and they have to tie up a fella to keep him from opening the hatch? ("The stench! THE STENCH!!! I've gotta get away!! Let me outta here!!")

How does one go about qualifying for this job? Can you imagine the ad in the paper? "Professional company seeking qualified sniffer to test all outgoing product for scent.. Must be able to identify all manner of stench to within a micrometer, or within one tenth of one per'scent'... Pay scale based upon experience"

[FishinCricket]

And that's why bartenders should not drink on the job kids. They make bad decisions and marry Cricket.

Watch it, Ginger... I got my (good) eye on you....

[denjac]

<A href=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/">BEHIND THE SCENES | Planning | Training | Engineering | Processing | Research | Meet the People

Assisted by a coworker in the Molecular Desorption and Analysis Laboratory, George Aldrich, left, takes a scientific whiff.George Aldrich,

White Sands Test Facility,

Las Cruces, New Mexico

NASA's Nose: Avoiding smelly situations in space

April 2003 -- Thanks to George Aldrich and his team of NASA sniffers, astronauts can breathe a little bit easier. Aldrich is a chemical specialist or “chief sniffer” at the White Sands Test Facility’s Molecular Desorption and Analysis Laboratory in New Mexico. His job is to smell items before they can be flown in the space shuttle.

Aldrich explained that smells change in space and that once astronauts are up there, they’re stuck with whatever smells are onboard with them. In space, astronauts aren’t able to open the window for extra ventilation, Aldrich said. He also said that it is important not to introduce substances that will change the delicate balance of the climate of the International Space Station and the space shuttle.

More than being merely unpleasant, smells in space can indicate a health threat. Even objects that give off no odor can emit dangerous chemicals by a process called off-gassing. If an object’s off-gassing has toxic effects, it can be a matter of life and death.

“Smell is brought out by confined spaces and heat,” said Aldrich, “yet astronauts have no way of escaping a smell if it becomes pervasive. If that smell comes from dangerous compounds, it’s a serious health threat.”

It is Aldrich’s job to use his sense of smell to ensure the olfactory comfort, as well as the safety, of astronauts on orbit.

When he was just 18 years old, Aldrich began working at White Sand's fire department and was asked to be on the department’s Odor Panel. Aldrich explained that one of the requirements to get a job as a sniffer is a lack of any allergies or respiratory problems. “If you have a lot of allergies, your nasal passages are already irritated and cannot be used,” he said.

NASA calibrates and certifies its sniffers’ noses every four months using a “10-bottle test” in which seven of the bottles have odors and three of them are blanks. The seven scents must be categorized as musky, floral, ethereal, camphoraceous, minty, pungent or putrid.

According to the NASAexplores Web site, Aldrich’s team tests nearly all items that astronauts would encounter during their flight -- including fabric, toothpaste, circuit boards, makeup and even the ink on their checklists.

First, the items are tested for toxicity. They are placed into individually sealed containers and then into an oven, which is heated to 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) for three days to speed up the off-gassing process. The gases are then extracted and tested to determine whether they are toxic or carcinogenic. If the gases are deemed safe, the items then undergo odor testing.

Aldrich and four other team members smell the items and rank them on a scale of zero to four, ranging from non-detectable (zero), to barely detectable, easily detectable, objectionable and offensive (four). Aldrich refers to level four as “get-me-out-of-here.” Because the sense of smell can vary from person to person, sniffers give each object its own ratings, from which an average is obtained. If an item rates more than a 2.4 on the scale, it fails the test and is not allowed on the flight. Some items that have failed are camera film, felt-tipped markers, mascara and certain types of stuffed animals. Aldrich has done 765 of these “smell missions” to date.

NASA could use dogs or “electronic noses” for this testing, but as Aldrich pointed out, the Agency would rather use human sniffers because they serve as a screening test for the also-human astronauts. The human testers can more accurately identify smells that will offend the human crewmembers than an electronic nose could.

As a result of his career, Aldrich has had some uncommon opportunities. He has served as a judge four times at the Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Competition. He has also appeared on television a number of times, including appearances on two game shows.

While others may chuckle at his unusual occupation, Aldrich said he believes in its value.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think it was important,” he said.

Curator: Kim Dismukes | Responsible NASA Official: John Ira Petty | Updated: 06/23/2003

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[flytyer57]

That was too funny, but it also kinda how it goes. Everything that goes into the shuttles he has to give it a sniff. I guess odors are magnified in space so if he can smell it, it will smell real bad in space. He also has a contract with odor eaters.

Guess he's just into smelly jobs.

[jdmidwest]

If his nose is that good, asked him if he caught a whiff of my cousin last Sat. He showed up at camp after eating alot of White Castles. I am sure it drifted for several states.

[denjac]

George in action .

[Quillback]

Wow, so if I read that article right, they actually have a team of 5 sniffers at NASA. What do these folks do when they're not sniffin? It can't be an 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, job right? I wonder when they're all in a room together sniffin, if it sounds like a bunch of bloodhounds working a trail, kind of a very loud SNIFF, SNIFF, SNORT, SNIFF...

[FishinCricket]

Wow, so if I read that article right, they actually have a team of 5 sniffers at NASA. What do these folks do when they're not sniffin? It can't be an 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, job right? I wonder when they're all in a room together sniffin, if it sounds like a bunch of bloodhounds working a trail, kind of a very loud SNIFF, SNIFF, SNORT, SNIFF...

Hmm, maybe (in their off time) they pickup shifts as K-9 units? I could just see George hanging out the back window of a cop car, sniffing the teenage passers-by... lol