If Someone Died On Mars, What Would Happen To Their Body?

When you die on Earth , you generally have sex what will happen to your eubstance , even if you ’d rather not . But what chance to it if you die in space , on Mars , or on the way to Mars ?

First off , there are n’t really any official protocols in place for what take place to your body when you die out in space . NASA ’s prescribed insurance policy , sent as astatement to Popsci , is that a decision would be made in connective between NASA leaders , international partners , and flight process .

harmonise to astronaut and former commander of the International Space Station Chris Hadfield , however , the blank means does run " death simulation " with astronauts looking at these scenarios .

“ If someone died while on an EVA I would contribute them inside the airlock first , ” Hadfieldsaid of his conclusion from the exercise . “ I would in all probability keep them inside their pressurized suit ; organic structure in reality decompose quicker in a spacesuit , and we do n’t need the odour of rotting meat or off shoot a line , it ’s not sanitary . So we would keep them in their suit and stack away it somewhere frigid on the place . ”

Onboard theISS , the problem could be dealt with relatively swiftly : Temporary storage in the cooler part of the ISS , pursue by possibly the most awful hearse collection / funeral entourage in human history . But on foresightful commission – say , toMars – other solutions would be necessary .

You could , of course , jettison the body out into distance , turning a former colleague into potentially dangerousspace junk . This in reality sound against aUN space debris mitigation arrangement , potentially turn that touching send - off into an international incident .

One alternativeproposed by a research teamset up by NASA is to sequester the corpse , inside a bag , to a machinelike branch on the outside of the spaceship . The body would freeze solid , at which point the weapon would set out to thrill the bag for 15 minutes until the brittle eubstance has been reduced to modest pieces . H2O is allowed to vaporize out of the bagful through a venthole , leaving the ship with about 25 kilograms ( 55 pounds ) of remains to lend house to Earth .

AsSusanne Wiigh - Masak of eco - friendly burial companionship Promessatold Vice,“Everything on the ship has to be very minimal and carefully weighed and stored . There ’s not a quite a little of extra room , so if you have a full - sized deceased body , where are you endure to keep it ? "

To this end , there would only need to be the same number of body bags as bunch members , minus one . AsWiigh - Masaksaid , the surplus bag " could n’t make full itself " .

But what happens to your consistency if you make it all the mode to the crimson planet , only to perish there ?

In terms of procedure , again there is n’t much that has been prepare out – it would likely come down to a word between astronauts on the deputation and the team back on Earth . NASA takes great care not to pollute Mars andwould preferthat body be cremated in lodge to kill off all Earth microbes .

If that is n’t possible – say , on an early missionary post to the planet – or something pass to the whole bunch , it could be that they are bury or left on the aerofoil of Mars .

If you are left on the aerofoil of Mars , you will not decompose as you would here on Earth . If you fail during the Martian day , your bacteria would lead off the normal mental process of break down your organic structure . However , once night hits , your body will freeze and the bacteria will be stop in its rail . With no bacteria to decompose you , your mild tissues stay dependable and you will start tobecome a mummy on Mars .

Without the auspices of Earth ’s atmosphere and magnetosphere , radiation syndrome would break down your dead body further , but over a much farsighted timescale , peradventure get out your finger cymbals to feel tens of millions of years in the future .