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<\/div>\nAs space travel becomes more common, so does the possibility that someone might die along the way.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Houston: <\/b><\/p>\n
There’s no question that sending human beings to space is an extraordinarily difficult and perilous proposition.<\/p>\n
Since human space exploration began just over 60 years ago, 20 people have died \u2013 14 in the\u00a0NASA space shuttle tragedies of 1986<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a02003<\/a>, three cosmonauts during\u00a0the 1971 Soyuz 11 mission<\/a>, and three astronauts in the\u00a0Apollo 1 launch pad fire in 1967<\/a>.<\/p>\n Given how complicated human spaceflight is, it’s actually remarkable how few people have lost their lives so far. But NASA plans to send\u00a0a crew to the Moon in 2025<\/a>\u00a0and astronauts to Mars\u00a0in the next decade<\/a>. Commercial spaceflight\u00a0is becoming routine<\/a>. As space travel becomes more common, so does the possibility that someone might die along the way.<\/p>\n It brings to mind a gloomy but necessary question to ask: If someone dies in space \u2013 what happens to the body?<\/p>\n As\u00a0a space medical doctor<\/a>\u00a0who works to find new ways to keep astronauts healthy, I and my team at the\u00a0Translational Research Institute for Space Health<\/a>\u00a0want to make sure space explorers are as healthy as they can be for space missions.<\/p>\n Here is how death in space would be handled today: If someone died on a low-Earth-orbit mission \u2013 such as aboard the\u00a0International Space Station<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the crew could return the body to Earth in a capsule within a matter of hours.<\/p>\n If it happened on the Moon, the crew could return home with the body in just a few days. NASA already has detailed\u00a0protocols in place for such events<\/a>.<\/p>\n Because of that quick return, it’s likely that preservation of the body would not be NASA’s major concern; instead, the No. 1 priority would be making sure the remaining crew returns safely to Earth.<\/p>\n Things would be different if an astronaut died during the\u00a0300 million-mile trip to Mars<\/a>.<\/p>\n In that scenario, the crew probably wouldn’t be able to turn around and go back. Instead, the body would likely return to Earth along with the crew at the end of the mission, which would be a couple of years later.<\/p>\n In the meantime, the crew would presumably preserve the body in a separate chamber\u00a0or specialized body bag<\/a>. The steady temperature and humidity inside the space vehicle would theoretically help preserve the body.<\/p>\n But all those scenarios would apply only if someone died in a pressurized environment, like a space station or a spacecraft.<\/p>\n What would happen if someone stepped outside into space\u00a0without the protection of a spacesuit<\/a>?<\/p>\n The astronaut would die almost instantly. The loss of pressure and the exposure to the vacuum of space would make it impossible for the astronaut to breathe, and blood and other body fluids would boil.<\/p>\n What would happen if an astronaut stepped out onto the Moon or Mars without a spacesuit?<\/p>\n The Moon has nearly no atmosphere \u2013\u00a0a very tiny amount<\/a>. Mars has\u00a0a very thin atmosphere<\/a>, and almost no oxygen. So the result would be about the same as exposure to open space: suffocation and boiling blood.<\/p>\n Suppose the astronaut died after landing, while on the surface of Mars.<\/p>\n Cremation isn’t desirable; it requires too much energy that the surviving crew needs for other purposes. And burial isn’t a good idea, either. Bacteria and other organisms from the body could\u00a0contaminate the Martian surface<\/a>. Instead, the crew would likely preserve the body in a specialized body bag until it could be returned to Earth.<\/p>\n There are still many unknowns about how explorers would deal with a death. It’s not just the question of what to do with the body. Helping the crew deal with the loss, and helping the grieving families back on Earth, are just as important as handling the remains of the person who died. But to truly colonize other worlds \u2013 whether the Moon, Mars or a planet outside our solar system \u2013 this grim scenario will require planning and protocols.<\/p>\n Author:\u00a0<\/em>Emmanuel Urquieta, Professor of Space Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Disclosure statement: Emmanuel Urquieta is supported by the Translational Research Institute for Space Health<\/em><\/p>\n This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nDeath on the Moon and Mars<\/h2>\n
What about burial?<\/h2>\n
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