• Question: can bodies decompose in space

    Asked by rachel.h03 to Dominic, James, Jenny, Kevin, Norah on 3 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Dominic Doyle

      Dominic Doyle answered on 3 Mar 2017:

      I guess it depends on “where” you are in space!
      On the moon it would take a very long time, because there are no microbes there. On Mars we don’t actually know (yet) what’s below the surface.
      But in general there would not be decomposition like we know on Earth.

    • Photo: James Harpur

      James Harpur answered on 6 Mar 2017:

      That’s a good question.

      Dominic is right in that it depends where you are.

      The main things that help a body decompose such as, oxygen, bacteria, even insects, would not be available in space making it difficult for a body to decompose. Lets go through a few examples for fun:

      – SPOILER. George Clooney in Gravity:
      Poor George was clutching onto a rope that was pulling him away from Sandra Bullock, which made no sense as once she pulled on the rope, he should’ve started travelling back to her, but anyways he ends up letting go and floating aimlessly around Earth. The design of multiple layers in the space suit along with the supply of gases makes the inside of that suit like being on Earth. That does mean that as long as he has a little bit of Oxygen inside, his body will decompose the same as it would on Earth. It needs the Oxygen thou.

      – SPOILER. Owen Wilson in Armageddon. Poor Owen was left lying on the asteroid with a damaged space suit. Most likely he suffocated instantly, but that in my opinion is better than dying from the extreme temperatures or radiation. Anyways, with no Oxygen there would be no decomposition. The extreme heats in the sun would remove the water from the body which is actually what the Egyptians used to do to make mummies to preserve the body. So somewhere in a parallel Hollywood universe, an Owen Wilson mummy would be lying on half an asteroid floating through space. If he’s in the shade, he would be frozen and also not decompose.

      Mars and Moon – Similar to floating through space. With access to little to no oxygen, and enduring extreme temperatures, the body would not decompose and most likely mummify. Radiation does play a part but a very very small one. It would take millions of years for radiation to completely decompose a body. Which might become a nuisance if Elon Musk starts bringing everybody there. Unless he changes the atmosphere of the planet(known as Terraforming), we’ll probably have to cremate to save space 🙂

      Great question

Comments