A journey to outer space is out of our reach, but not that of our noses.
A new fragrance called Eau de Space, which was first commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, claims to have accurately captured the scent of the expanse that exists beyond Earth.
The fragrance was developed by chemist Steve Pearce, who was engaged by Nasa to produce the perfume back in 2008.
Using descriptions from astronauts, the mission took him four years to complete, but now the fragrance can be sniffed by a wider audience thanks to a new Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign.
Eau de Space has teamed up with perfumers to develop the scent on a mass-production basis, should the online initiative raise enough funds.
"Decades ago, Nasa designed a fragrance to train astronauts on how outer space actually smells. Now we're releasing it to the world," the Kickstarter webpage details.
"We connected with Nasa to bring the world's first perfume, independently verified by actual astronauts, down to Earth."
The perfume was originally designed to help prepare astronauts for the realities of space, bringing on board Pearce, the founder of Omega Ingredients, to craft the scent.
While the ingredients are tightly under wraps, Eau de Space product manager Matt Richmond told CNN that "astronauts describe the smell as a mix of gunpowder, seared steak, raspberries and rum".
"The smell of space has been locked behind 'need to know', astronaut-only field training, and red tape for years," the Kickstarter page continues, adding that it has secured the rights to exclusively produce the fragrance. "Through sheer determination, grit, a lot of luck and a couple of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, we got it out."
The company aimed to raise $1,969 (Dh7,232) through the Kickstarter campaign, but the tally already sits at $95,705, raised by more than 2,500 contributors, with 46 days of the fundraiser left to go.
The fragrance is set to retail for $15 with an estimated delivery date of October.
How%20to%20avoid%20getting%20scammed
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ENever%20click%20on%20links%20provided%20via%20app%20or%20SMS%2C%20even%20if%20they%20seem%20to%20come%20from%20authorised%20senders%20at%20first%20glance%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EAlways%20double-check%20the%20authenticity%20of%20websites%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EEnable%20Two-Factor%20Authentication%20(2FA)%20for%20all%20your%20working%20and%20personal%20services%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EOnly%20use%20official%20links%20published%20by%20the%20respective%20entity%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EDouble-check%20the%20web%20addresses%20to%20reduce%20exposure%20to%20fake%20sites%20created%20with%20domain%20names%20containing%20spelling%20errors%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
