A NASA man has one of the most amazing jobs in the world and has been doing it for 50 years

George Aldrich worked for NASA for more than 50 years, currently at its White Sands test site. In 2005, when ABC News visited the facility, his job was to sniff a pipe that NASA hoped to use in space. He sniffed the hole and nodded. But not everything passes his test. For example, when Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, wanted to take mascara into space, George refused it because of its smell. As NASA’s chief executive officer, George spends his working days sniffing everything from books, hats, and glue tubes to space shuttles. His unique work has attracted a lot of attention online.

In 2018, George hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on the Reddit group r/space, writing, “I’m ‘Chief Sniffer’ and a volunteer ‘Nasalnaut’ for NASA. I sniff things before going to the workers’ quarters.” He said that the purpose of his work was to check for disagreeable or offensive odors that could be nauseating to the scientists and possibly jeopardized the astronaut’s productivity and mission.

George said: “Scientists can actually get sick from the bad smell.” Susana Harper, director of NASA’s nose laboratory, explained the process to Science Station, saying, “When we’re on the space station or on a ship, there’s no extra air. We open a window and we get fresh air.” clean in there. What we have to do down here is make sure we don’t send any new smells up. Because once they get there, they stay there.” Even a very weak smell can stay in space for years, and sometimes it can make scientists sick.

Odor testing began after the Apollo 1 mission in 1967 when a fire broke out in the spacecraft during launch exercises, killing three astronauts. In addition, the Russians had to retire in 1976 because of the unbearable smell of their aircraft. That’s when NASA decided to do physical experiments, especially in 100 percent oxygen environments. Test #1 was to check for burning, Test #6 for smell, and Test #7 was for toxicity, explained George in a Reddit comment.

Others in this regard asked George funny questions. u/rmshackleford asked how astronauts deal with the smell of flatulence in space, to which he replied that there’s nothing they can do about it, and sometimes people just smell. Someone asked, “What is your favorite scent in the world?” George replied, “I have no scent on me.”

In addition to George, the smell test is usually done by a team of four other volunteers. Each expert performs a blind smell test of each and every item, grading it from 0 to 4. Anything that more than 2.5 fails the test and is not added to the list of items to be sent to the site. If sniffers have a cold, stuffy nose or sore throat, there is a nurse on hand to check their noses before they come in to sniff. If they have a pre-existing condition, the nurse does not allow them to do the smell test. “I have been tested more than 900 times; I think I failed twice,” George said on Reddit.

Because of his amazing work and great smell, George was featured in “Superhumans” by Stan Lee. He has also been a guest on the Inverse.com podcast “I Need My Space,” and a recipient of NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award, according to IFL Science. A professional artist, nicknamed “NostrilDamus” and “Nasalnaut” by his team, he has also served as a judge for the Odor-Eaters’ Rotten Sneaker Contest. “My friends and family think I’m crazy,” he joked while talking to the Science Channel.