It is nothing new that astronauts risk their lives on every mission. Since human space exploration began more than 60 years ago, 20 people have died: 14 in the tragedies of NASA’s space shuttle Challenger in 1986 and 2003, 3 astronauts during the Soyuz 11 mission in 1971, and 3 astronauts in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire in 1967. Yet Surprisingly, no deaths have been recorded in space to date.
With increasingly longer missions and the beginnings of tourist trips beyond the borders of our planet, it’s only a matter of time before someone finds their ultimate destination. And even though it may seem like a lie, During this time, protocols focused on prevention and little was said about what to do when it happened.
In 2003, the European Space Agency (ESA) issued “Guidelines for the Management of Space Debris”, which contained recommendations for the disposal of human remains in space. And in 2021, NASA published the paper “Death in Space: Protocol Considerations – Gateway, Orion, Lunar, Mars, and Beyond,” which discusses the challenges and opportunities of managing death in space in the context of future missions.
In spite of There is no single universal protocol for death in space, and each one is different depending on the mission and type of death. These are some of the options.
Dying is a problem: what do you do with the body?
The solution will depend a lot on what the mission is. If the deceased is on a short trip or low-altitude trip, such as to the International Space Station (ISS) or on a trip to the Moon, it is possible to return the body to Earth. In both cases, the crew was able to return the body to the capsule within days.
NASA is trying to develop a body bag that can keep a body in a spacecraft for 48 to 72 hours. This time is enough to return to Earth from the International Space Station.
But the situation gets complicated on longer missions. If this happens, for example, on the way to Mars, the crew should live with the corpse for at least a few years. So we have to look for other alternatives.
Drifting into space
It seems like a pretty logical solution, but it’s not possible. Open the ship’s airlock and send the body floating into the voidlike Spock’s funeral in “Star Trek” violates a serious international rule. The UN agreement says you can’t litter in space, and that includes dumping dead bodies.
This is because bodies floating in a vacuum could collide with other spacecraft or even float to other planets and colonize them with human remains and whatever bacteria and organisms may live on and in the body.
Save it until you get home
Suppose it is decided to keep the body and return it to his relatives. To slow down decomposition, it should be stored in a separate, very cool chamber with constant humidity. Generally, this is the same place where garbage and food scraps are stored. But after a while, odors could appear and this poses a danger to the crew’s health.
And although putting a brave astronaut next to the bin sounds like the most logical decision, not the best idea in terms of public relations and popularity of the space company.
Body bags
One of the most interesting proposals in the protocol to deal with death in space is the collaboration between the environmental funeral company Promessa and NASA, which gave rise to the idea of ”Body Back”. Body back involves an airtight sleeping bag in which a human corpse is sealed and then exposed to freezing from space.
The vacuum causes the immediate evaporation of all body fluids, which significantly reduces its weight.
The frozen body is brought on board and It vibrates intensely until it breaks. Finally, there are about 25 kilograms of ground human body powder that can be suspended outside the spacecraft until it reaches its destination.
If this situation occurs, it may be the most appropriate way to protect the body, However, there are still many unknowns about how explorers deal with death.
Not just today What to do with the body is debated, but how and who would tell the rest of the crew, To the agency and family awaiting the return of a loved one.
