Absurd speculation.
Martian to another in an underground city: “See? I told you keep those filthy humans away from here. They’re no good.”
Orbit of dead body option....
Also, as I mentioned on another thread recently, the Arthur C. Clarke sequel novel 3001: The Final Odyssey is partly about one of the 2001 astronauts Frank Poole, killed by HAL 9000. Synopsis: “One millennium later, Poole’s freeze-dried body is discovered in the Kuiper belt by a comet-collecting space tug named the Goliath, and revived. Poole is taken home to learn about the Earth in the year 3001.”