What happens if someone dies in space? The dead body will come or not what does NASA protocol say

Sending humans into space is a difficult and very dangerous task. 60 years ago, we started trying to get to know the depths of space. Since then, 20 people have died. While 11 astronauts lost their lives in the NASA space shuttle tragedies of 1986 and 2003, 3 astronauts were killed on the Soyuz 11 mission in 1971. In 1967, when the Apollo launch pad caught fire, 3 astronauts lost their lives.

Despite this, many agencies around the world, including the US space agency NASA, are committed to this work. NASA has announced that it will send astronauts to the Moon in 2025 and to Mars within the next decade. Numerous commercial flights have also begun. As space travel becomes more and more commonplace, it’s also possible for someone to die along the way. The question now is what happens if someone dies in space. The dead body will come or not, what does NASA protocol say, know all!

What if someone dies on the Moon?

Space specialist Emmanuel Urquieta explains in detail. A physician at the Translational Research Institute for Health in Space, he is working to find new ways to keep astronauts healthy. He said: “My team’s job is to make sure that astronauts are as healthy as they should be. According to him, if a person dies in Earth orbit, for example on the International Space Station, the crew can return the body to a capsule within a few hours. On the other hand, if someone dies on the moon, the space crew can return home with the body in a matter of days. NASA already has a detailed protocol for this. Clearly, NASA’s first concern would be to bring back the astronauts with them, rather than this corpse.

It’s not easy to bring back a corpse from Mars

Emmanuel Urquieta explained that things would be different if an astronaut died during the 300 million kilometer journey to Mars. In this case, it would be difficult for the astronauts to turn around and go back. Instead, after a few years, when the mission is over and the astronaut has to return, they take the body back to a separate room or a special body. The stable temperature and humidity inside the spacecraft should theoretically help preserve the body. But this protocol will only be applicable if a person has died in a pressurized environment such as the space station or spaceship.