“A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose,” wrote Gertrude Stein in 1913—but that isn’t necessarily true in space. Though we know that microgravity conditions cause biological changes in plants, before 1998 no one knew how the smell of a plant would change—how microgravity would impact the production of volatile oils, which give flowers their scent. Volatile oils change according to environmental factors like light, temperature, moisture, and age, and also depending on which insects and birds the flower wants to attract.
So the fragrance company International Flowers & Fragrances (IFF) was literally launching themselves ahead of competition when they teamed up with researchers at the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotic to see if a rose grown in space is any different to a rose grown on Earth.
A seven-inch rose called Overnight Scentsation was chosen, and a growing chamber called Astroculture was built. On October 28, 1998, the space shuttle Discovery flight STS-95 launched with a single rose on board, which seems like a beautiful symbolic gesture, but science and business was driving it.
On the mission, two of the rose’s buds bloomed, and the astronauts took four samples of the volatile oils by touching a wand to the blossoms. Back on Earth, the IFF’s analysis of these samples showed that the rose produced fewer volatile oils in space, but actually created a whole different aroma—it was described as more floral than the same roses on Earth. IFF used this to create a scent called ‘space rose’, which was used in Shisedo Cosmetics’ perfume ZEN.
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