Posted on 04/17/2021 10:33:07 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Experts have suggested a number of ways to dispose the body, including 'jettison' it into the dark abyss or burying the person on Mars – but the remains would first need to be burned to not contaminate the surface.
However, a worst case scenario has been presented where the space fairing heroes run out of food and the only thing edible is the dead body of their fallen crew mate.
NASA does not have set protocols for dealing with death in space, but researchers around the world have put the work in to respectfully dispose of a fallen astronaut, as reported on by Popular Science.
If a crew member dies while making the more than 170-million-mile journey to Mars, the body can be placed in the cold storage or freeze dried until the craft touches down.
Releasing the body into space seems like the easiest option, it would become trapped in the path of the craft and linger exactly where it was let go.
And if numerous missions choose this method, future rockets heading to Mars will soar through a sea of dead bodies.
NASA has strict laws about contaminating other planets with Earth microbes.
'Regarding the disposal of organic material (including bodies) on Mars,' NASA's Conley told Popular Science, 'we impose no restrictions so long as all Earth microbes have been killed—so cremation would be necessary.'
However, not every dead astronaut will likely be buried, but otherwise eaten so the others can survive.
It may sound barbaric, but experts are looking to what happened when a plane crashed into the Andes mountains in 1972.
The passengers had no food no way of communicating, so in order to live they made the hard decision to eat those who had died when the plane went down.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Save his water!
(Dune Fremen reference)
I think being made into Soylent Green has to be the correct option.
maybe NASA will sell the bodies to McD’s
Is this a poll? I didn’t see where to vote. I want to make sure my vote counts! I feel disenfranchised.
Just like those slaves ships did... According to an IQ 17 congressman...
This sharks did the cleanup...
The atmosphere on Mars will not support combustion. Burning would have to happen in a totally self-contained unit. Something the astronauts would see every day, and would remind them of their frail mortality.
Living on Mars with the thought that the one who dies first will be eaten will have a severe impact on the emotional stability of the crew. No thought is given to the reason why cannibalism is taboo: it contaminates the eater with the germs of the deceased.
Once off the home planet, the rules are whatever NASA decides on. Here’s an overview of what the Brave New World Rules will be:
1. Get real sick, you are terminated. Can’t be a burden on the rest of the crew.
2. You get real old, you are terminated. Can’t be a burden on the rest of the crew.
3. When you die, you are jetissoned into space, or left behind. Only payload gets a ride. Dead weight stays behind.
4. There is no rule for who has sex with who, or what. Anything goes. Indeed, space exploration will be a bonus for those who want to get rid of traditional rules of morality.
5. Babies will be born in space. They will not have been given the opportunity to decide if they want to spend the rest of their lives in space, with no possibility of returning to Earth, the planet with green trees, blue sky, and warm Sun, for which we are eminently optimized. The impact on their individual rights will be totally overlooked.
5A. Some babies born in space will be eaten. Can’t let anything go to waste.
6. Religion will be outlawed, especially Christianity. The only giver of rules will be NASA, the new god.
Reading 2001 after the movie, it was obvious that Kubrick's movie vision left out transitional scenes that could have made it less confusing. Even as a long time Sci-fi fan, I had trouble with the closing sequences of Poole aging in that room and then abruptly the fetus floating through space while Also Sprach Zarathustra plays again. The novel explains it.
I never met anyone who got the closing sequence above. However, the classical Strauss music Kubrick used was genius for his vision.
Dune was the first thing I thought of when I saw this article.
Fully expect that humans who die on Mars will be composted.
OK, where do you get the precious oxygen to burn the body? Do you REALLY want to waste precious oxygen to do that on Mars?
Then, there's this..."a worst case scenario has been presented where the space fairing heroes..."
"Fairing"...
"Sea faring"...
"Space faring"...
What happened to the Queen's English? Did the Daily Mail fire all of its editors?
That could be an option, but where to do the composting? The Marian soil probably would not work because of lack of oxygen and lack of specific bacteria. Maybe it could work in specific agricultural compartments in a large habitat?
Cremation does not necessarily require oxygen. Heating the body in an electric furnace until all possible bacteria are dead should be sufficient.
The ashes can then be used in inside gardens.
White meat? Dark meat? Both?
Heat up the body in a furnace with no oxygen and you’ll get a desiccated mummy. There won’t be any ashes. You’ll drive off the water as vapor (65% - 85% of body weight), but that’s about it. All the original solids will be largely unchanged (except for maybe some calcining-type reactions).
You’d probably wind up with a shrunken head.
“I wonder what’s eating Bob?”
“I think it’s Bill.”
Genesis 1:28
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
We were commanded to subdue the earth. Not Mars or any other planet. This will not end well.
Yup—they need to add this to the psych tests for astronauts.
“Are you OK with eating people?”
That should give a few of the candidates pause....
;-)
Good insights.
When it came out April 2, 1968 I was not yet out of college and it seemed mystically special in its Cinerama version.
"Ewwww, with a gammy leg?"
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