We generally know what the living will do to our bodies when they die on Earth. But if Earth's human colony on Mars were to materialize, have you ever thought what would happen if we died in space, Mars, or on our way to Mars?
First, there really isn't an official protocol for what happens to your body when you die in space. But according to NASA, the decision will be made jointly between NASA leadership, international partners and flight operations.
According to astronaut and former commander of the International Space Station Chris Hadfield, the space agency is taught and runs simulations in the event of death in space.
"If someone dies while in EVA (Extravehicular activity), I'll take them into the airlock first," Hadfield said of his conclusion from the simulation exercise, quoted from IFL Science.
"I would probably keep them in the pressure suits they were wearing. Bodies actually decompose more quickly in spacesuits, and we have to keep that smell of rotting meat or exhaust gas from getting around, because that's not healthy. So we're going to keep them." in a space suit and store it in a cold place on the space station," he explained.
Aboard the International Space Station (ISS), this problem may be dealt with relatively quickly. There is cooler temporary storage on the ISS. But on longer lasting missions, say to Mars, other solutions are needed.
We could just throw bodies into outer space, turning bodies into potentially dangerous space debris. But it should be noted, this method is actually contrary to the UN space debris mitigation agreement, and has the potential to turn a supposedly sad space 'funeral' into an international incident.