Death in Space: Here Is What Would Happen to Our Body When We Die in Final Frontier

As space agencies and companies –such as SpaceX and Blue Origin– are preparing plans for civilian space travel, there is a question waiting to be answered of what would happen to a body after someone’s death in space.

The human race has lost a total of 18 people both in space and during preparation for a mission since space-related attempts are inherently dangerous.

So not only we need to think about how we can live in different destinations in space but we should also take a look at what awaits us there at the end of our life.

Decomposition stages after death

On our planet, there are decomposition stages following death, which Chinese forensic medical scientist Song Ci described in his book Washing Away of Wrongs back in 1247, the first ever written forensic science book.

After death, first of all, blood stops circulation and starts to pool due to gravity. This is known as livor mortis, also called hypostasis, according to The Conversation.

NASA

In the second stage of death, which is algor mortis, the body temperature cools, and muscles solidify because of uncontrolled accumulation of calcium in the muscle fibres. This stage is called rigor mortis.

Bacteria escape from the gut to spread other parts of the body, causing putrefaction. Swelling of the body due to the released gases also takes place after death in space.

“The muscles are destroyed, strong smells are emitted and the soft tissues are broken down,” reports The Conversation.

In addition to these intrinsic factors, there are also external factors such as insect intervention, temperature and burying or wrapping the body.

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An answer to what would happen after death in space

As for death in space, the livor mortis stage would be different since the gravity on other planets is unlike. This means that blood would not pool while floating in space.

But the process during rigor mortis stage would considerably gear down while bacteria cannot function properly due to lack of oxygen inside a spacesuit.

Also, dry desert-like environment of Mars could cause dryness of soft tissues. Untidy sediment under the Martian winds would damage the skeleton.

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When it comes to decomposition, temperature plays an essential role as well. The temperature on the moon’s surface can reach 260 F, or 127 C, when sunlight is received. But following its disappearance, numbers can see minus 280 F, or 173 C.

The dead body on the lunar surface could therefore have signs of heat-induced alteration or freezing damage. Probably, the body would still appear human as the decomposition-related process would not happen because of divergent conditions there.

Meanwhile, similar to what our planet’s only natural satellite experiences, significant changes in temperature occur on the Red Planet, which are minus 80 F (60 C) and 70 F (20 C).

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