NASA isn’t sure what to do with corpses in space, but they may need to figure it out soon.
Of the more than 550 people we’ve sent into the cosmos, just 21 have died—and only 3 actually above the boundary between Earth and space—since humankind first took to strapping ourselves to rockets. When there have been fatalities, the entire crew has been lost, leaving no one to rescue. But as we move closer to a human mission to Mars, there’s a higher likelihood that individuals could be stranded or even perish—whether that’s on the way, while living in harsh environments, or at some other point of the mission.
**Correction: April 15, 2021
The video misstates the distance from Earth to the Moon. It is 250,000 miles, not 250 miles.**
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Assignment: Outer Space (1960), Canadian Space Agency, Destination Earth (1956), European Space Agency, Galaxy Science Fiction, NASA/JPL, Prelinger Archives, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, U.S. National Archives
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– [Narrator] On July 21st, 1969,
the Apollo 11 lunar landing crew.
– That’s one small step for man.
– [Narrator] Was due to
depart the moon’s surface
after a 22 hour visit.
– One giant leap for mankind.
– [Narrator] A speech had been prepared
for President Richard Nixon titled,
“In the Event of Moon Disaster,”
it read, “Fate has ordained that the men
who went to the moon to explore in peace
will stay on the moon to rest peace”
Said another way, marooned, stranded
because landing on the moon was one thing,
(gentle music)
getting off was something else entirely.
Would Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong
live out the rest of their days
staring at the blue glow of
Earth from 250,000 miles away?
And what if they did?
(gentle music)
Of the more than 550 people
we’ve sent into the cosmos,
just 21 have died
and only 3 actually above the boundary
between Earth and space
since humankind first took
to strapping ourselves to rockets.
When there have been fatalities,
the entire crew has been lost,
leaving no one to rescue.
But as we move closer to
a human mission to Mars,
there’s a higher likelihood
that individuals could be
stranded or even perish
whether that’s on the way,
while living in harsh environments,
or at some other point of the mission.
The International Space Station
is one place to look to as a model.
A death among that crew
would likely result from an
accident during a spacewalk.
Maybe suddenly you get
hit by a micrometeorite,
then there’s a hole in your suit.
Well, this hypothetical astronaut
would only have about 15 seconds
until they lost consciousness.
Before they froze, they
would most likely die
from asphyxiation or decompression.
10 seconds of exposure
to the vacuum of space
would force the water in their
skin and blood to vaporize,
while their body expanded
outward like a balloon.
Their lungs would collapse,
and after 30 seconds
they would be paralyzed
if they weren’t already dead.
A corpse in space presents
some major logistical problems.
The fact that a dead body is a biohazard
is definitely the biggest concern,
and finding the space to
store it in is a close second.
The crew of the ISS already stores trash
in the coldest spot on the station;
it keeps the bacteria away and
makes smell less of an issue.
For this reason, a dead astronaut
would likely be held here
or an airlock until a seat was available
on a return trip to Earth.
What if you’re millions
of miles from anywhere,
en route to Mars,
and storage of a deceased
astronaut isn’t an option?
In theory, you could
always jettison them out
on a forever path into the void, right?
One problem of physics though,
unless a mini rocket was
strapped to the body,
they would end up following the trajectory
of the spacecraft.
As the years went on and
the bodies accumulated,
that would make for a morbid trip.
But the risks of dying along the way
are nothing compared to
dying once you get there.
In promoting his own future
space settlement plans,
SpaceX’s Elon Musk has
openly cautioned that, quote,
“If you want to go to
Mars, prepare to die.”
Which begs the question,
if lives are lost on the Red Planet,
where do you put the bodies?
Could they just be buried there?
That makes sense because
of the long journey back,
but it poses potential
contamination problems.
Even the Mars rovers are required by law
not to bring Earth microbes
to their new planet.
Spacecraft are repeatedly
cleaned and sanitized
before launch to help prevent
potentially habitable locales
from being overtaken by
intrepid microorganisms.
But the bugs on a rover are nothing
compared to the bacteria
hitching a ride on a dead body.
So, if a Martian burial were to happen,
it would have to require cremation.
(gentle music)
NASA never officially
published a contingency plan
for the Apollo moon-walkers in 1969,
but they were prepared to lose the crew.
If things went sideways,
they planned to shut down communication
with the stranded astronauts
and issue them a formal burial at sea.
In reality, starvation
or, unfortunately, suicide
would have been the cause of death.
But even given that morbid
hypothetical turn of events,
everyone knew we would keep trying.
Quote, “Others will follow, and
surely find their way home.”
Nixon’s back-up speech read.
“Man’s search will not be denied.
But these men were the first,
and they will remain the
foremost in our hearts.”
As for future Mars missions,
climbing Mount Everest provides
the perfect Earthly analogy,
more than 200 bodies
lay across the mountain,
some of them still visible on
days when snow cover is light.
Everyone who climbs past is reminded
that they’re risking their lives.
Indeed, going to Mars is a risk.
But, that’s part of exploring space.
(gentle music)
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theylied1776
April 14, 2020 at 2:42 pm
I have never seen the point in overalls?
Steven H
April 14, 2020 at 2:46 pm
There is much, much more to the mechanism behind what caffeine does to the brain, adrenals, and the cascade of hormones behind it all…. Cortisol, aldosterone, insulin, and a mariad of others.
Benjamin Jerew
April 14, 2020 at 2:56 pm
every few years or so i have to detox. stopping cold turkey is a horrible experience, but then i can go back to a single cup of espresso after 3 weeks. “i don’t feel dead inside” hahaha! but it has to be done!
Scarlett Morrocco
September 7, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Lo e natural medicine, this week is ladys nite @ telegram vallartopia.org
Cya
vale y vicki las mejores amigas
September 7, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Lo e natural medicine, this week is ladys nite @ telegram vallartopia.org
Cya
scarlett,luna y eli las mejores amigas
September 7, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Lo e natural medicine, this week is ladys nite @ telegram vallartopia.org
Cya
vale UwU
September 7, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Lo e natural medicine, this week is ladys nite @ telegram vallartopia.org
Cya
fans de luza
September 7, 2020 at 2:29 pm
Lo e natural medicine, this week is ladys nite @ telegram vallartopia.org
Cya
Arnav Shukla
April 14, 2020 at 3:18 pm
I just hope the “science” part of this show would be more articulate and organised in the future. Have been a reader of popular science since my school days and would very much like to see the channel grow. I know the production team is trying to cater to a broad viewership and it’s hard to balance empirical analysis with entertainment. Still step up your game girls😊
BnORailFan
April 14, 2020 at 3:34 pm
I’m in trouble. I just drank some tea and had a caffeine pill before I saw this video was available. Though I only have about 120 mg per day not 400!
Scott Concertman
December 26, 2020 at 12:01 pm
Do they still make speed? _Black caddies were my favorite Bing Bing Bing pill._ 🤪
Jell O
January 26, 2021 at 10:04 am
caffeine pills completely wrecked my adrenals after a year of continuous use @ 100-200mg. I say stop while you’re ahead. Once you start feeling massive fatigue no matter how much caffeine you take is when you know your adrenals are stressed the hell out. If you must I’d just stick to coffee or tea because it takes longer to drink.
gregory burczyk
April 14, 2020 at 3:40 pm
when i quit i cant get out of bed for a few days.
Scott Concertman
December 26, 2020 at 11:55 am
_Well you better keep away from morphine then because you’ll be addicted to bed._
gregory burczyk
December 27, 2020 at 2:46 am
@Scott Concertman tried that as a teen. not a good experience.
Jell O
January 26, 2021 at 9:53 am
@Scott Concertman I was fed liquid morphine at the hospital and it didn’t work that well compared to benzos.
Jell O
January 26, 2021 at 9:55 am
I’m 17 days caffeine free and it’s still very hard to get out of bed. It takes me 5 hours for the grogginess to go away. I heard it take 6 months – 1yr for your hormones to get back to normal once you quit caffeine but some people experience moderate improvement in 2-5 months.
gregory burczyk
January 27, 2021 at 2:10 am
@Jell O maybe reading about will spark me to try again. i didnt know that it messed with hormones
Jell O
January 27, 2021 at 3:29 am
@gregory burczyk caffeine stresses out your adrenals and it messes with cortisol production over time. it can also inhibit nutrient absorption from food. you should definitely read about it and its links to adrenal fatigue. I only started reading about it once I was experiencing the worst symptoms which unsurprisingly has gone away since I quit caffeine.
becomepostal
April 14, 2020 at 4:24 pm
That’s not how you stop coffee. You must do it gradually.
kd1s
April 14, 2020 at 8:17 pm
There’s also caffeine in black tea, coca-cola, etc. So a lot more people are addicted to caffeine, including me. That said here in the U.S. we’ve been drugging ourselves with both illicit and non-illicit drugs for nearly 100 years now.
Musikaravaa
April 14, 2020 at 9:02 pm
Would you guys post transcripts? I don’t like to watch videos. I know this is an inane place to say that, but I frequently just don’t consume content because it’s in video format when I could read it in 1/3rd the time.
Jamie White
April 14, 2020 at 10:40 pm
You can change the video speed.
DaytimeSpecial
April 15, 2020 at 1:51 am
This channel should be called anecdotal science
Daniel Vance
April 15, 2020 at 5:24 pm
I cut out caffeine nearly 25-years ago now because of a rare kidney disease diagnosis. When at a restaurant, I often order root beer, expecting it to be caffeine free. There are those rare times however that I’ll get my drink and it’ll be Barq’s (which has caffeine). Feeling what it does to me, I have no clue how people drink caffeine every day, multiple times per day. And Barq’s has very low caffeine compared to most drinks on the market. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must go take a nap. All this typing tired me out.
Jell O
January 26, 2021 at 10:06 am
I read Muggs rootbeer is caffeine free but Barqs has about as much as a cup of green tea.
Kent Hambrock
April 15, 2020 at 6:08 pm
I was consuming around 400~mg of caffeine a day for months. Gave it up in February when I discovered the effects high cortisol (caused by excessive caffeine consumption) has on the immune system. During a pandemic, the last thing I want is a controllable habit to make things worse on me. Took me at least two weeks to get over the worst of it. xD Been doing fine, since, though.
100mg is roughly 10oz of fresh brewed coffee or 20oz of instant coffee. I however take my caffeine in the form of gum. 100mg per piece.
Chris Kenny
April 15, 2020 at 6:44 pm
I ain’t watching 16 minutes of this. What’s the TL;DR?
Jeremy Marko
April 15, 2020 at 6:48 pm
Are you kidding. Talk about dumbing us all down. This is not informative. Please have some credible people discussing science…
Michael Ireton
April 15, 2020 at 7:14 pm
Well this was profoundly disappointing and even in these socially isolated times with a lot of free time on my hands, a complete waste of 10 minutes (I skipped over a lot). A lot of giggly anecdotes and precious little substance or actual “science”. Caffeine is indeed a psychoactive drug. There’s still debate about whether it is truly “addictive”–substantive discussion of which might have made this at least somewhat more interesting. At least SOME exploration of the (psycho)pharmacology of caffeine would have been interesting. (Is it possible to overdose on caffeine?) Maybe some discussion of the history of coffee and coffee culture might have added some heft as well. (Who figured out that you could take (toxic) berries, then remove the flesh, then roast the seeds, then grind the seeds, then pour water over the ground seeds to produce a beverage? It seems quite bizarre!) Or perhaps a contemplation of how glibly so many people (including these ones) talk about “needing” coffee, while simultaneously condemning other psychoactive substances might have been interesting. It’s not just hypocritical–it also reveals something about social attitudes toward psychoactive substances in general. Again, some exploration of that might have made this more worthwhile to watch. WHY is coffee so widely socially accepted, while other substances aren’t? WHY do so many people feel like they “need” coffee to get through their day?
Of course, coffee allows workers to be more “productive”–to work harder, faster, and longer. This, of course, is beneficial to business. It allows businesses to extract more (surplus) “value” from their workers. In other words, coffee makes people better worker bees. It has also become big business in and of itself. Some exploration of the economics and labor practices of the coffee industry–including the move toward “fair trade” coffee might have been welcome.
On the purely anecdotal level, I quit all sources of caffeine about 25 years ago, after being a very heavy user. Yes, I went through some “withdrawal”, but I’m glad I did it. Don’t miss it a bit.
David Hays
April 16, 2020 at 12:48 am
(I skipped over a lot) of this wall of text.
Pople BackyardFarm
April 16, 2020 at 2:09 pm
I only drink 2 cups a day
Kevin Anderson
April 16, 2020 at 5:51 pm
It is like so helpful to like be able to have like this like science based information like available like on YouTube! You like wouldn’t believe like how many other like science YouTubers leave out the totally like relevant celebrity take on these like important like issues. I mean, I was like OMG! Like J’lo doesn’t even like drink caffeine because she like says that it like destroys her skin! I was like, OMG is that true?!?!
Scott Concertman
December 26, 2020 at 12:05 pm
Thanks so subscribe, give me a thumbs up after a 5 minute yada yada yada intro.
Keith Olson
April 17, 2020 at 1:07 am
Watching this drinking my afternoon coffee.
Scott Concertman
December 26, 2020 at 12:06 pm
Afternoon coffee enema?
Popular Science
May 7, 2020 at 3:58 pm
Saturday! Join us when #LIVEMEDAID brings together the scientific community to share ideas about the fight against #COVID19 and raise funds for Doctors without Borders. 🔔 Set reminder: pops.ci/LIVEMEDAIDYT
John Ferguson
May 13, 2020 at 9:09 pm
I got derealization/ depressed when I quit for 2 month . It was horrible. I’m back drinking coffee
David R
June 3, 2020 at 7:12 am
That’s good psychoactive ASMR
David Resetar
June 3, 2020 at 7:12 am
That’s good psychoactive ASMR
Spontaneous Snowflake
July 24, 2020 at 2:31 pm
This is possibly the most irritating video I have ever watched.
Scott Concertman
December 26, 2020 at 11:57 am
I second that seasick motion. Nails across a chalk board would have been more pleasurable 😳
Scott Concertman
December 26, 2020 at 11:54 am
Caffeine detox headache? Just take an Excedrin. Not to manage the headache, but because Excedrin contains caffeine.
MYL-CREATE
March 21, 2021 at 1:26 pm
Jess is so adorable. I can get lost in her eyes.
cookie
May 4, 2021 at 2:08 pm
its my 4th day now wish me luck!