# Astronaut Is Stranded On Mars: How Could He Commit Suicide? \[Open spoilers for "The Martian"\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034 "2016-08-17T00:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/21 "2016-08-17T17:22:25Z")
What I picture is something mixed with _Tang_. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/22 "2016-08-17T17:28:19Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Not radiation poisoning. Not that you can’t do it. Though not sure what he would have available would be enough. > > But for most levels of practical/doable radiation poisoning you’ll be wishing you were dead for a long time before you actually are. Probably about as pleasant as using a blowtorch to burn all your body skin then waiting to die from the after effects. > > So, not recommended. Wouldn’t the sun provide enough due to the thin atmosphere? ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/23 "2016-08-17T17:28:48Z")
Sounds like the best answer is what HMS Iruncible posted earlier - set the living chamber to be 100% nitrogen. Get comfortable and go to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/24 "2016-08-17T18:06:32Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Sounds like the best answer is what HMS Iruncible posted earlier - set the living chamber to be 100% nitrogen. Get comfortable and go to sleep. Even if you manage to override all the safety mechanisms and accomplish this, you’ll have low-oxygen alarms going off everywhere. Not exactly a comfortable or peaceful way to die. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/25 "2016-08-17T18:23:46Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > His blood went through his lungs and picked up no oxygen (because no air, of course) and when that un-oxygenated blood reached his brain, he passed out. That took about 15 seconds. Are you sure that is the reason? 15 seconds is pretty fast. People don’t pass out if they hold their breath for 15 seconds. People do pass out if the blood pressure to their brain drops. Maybe the lack of pressure on the outside of his body caused his blood pressure to drop? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/26 "2016-08-17T19:19:54Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > Are you sure that is the reason? 15 seconds is pretty fast. People don’t pass out if they hold their breath for 15 seconds. People do pass out if the blood pressure to their brain drops. Maybe the lack of pressure on the outside of his body caused his blood pressure to drop? If you hold your breath, your lungs are full of air that can continue to oxygenate your blood for a few minutes. When there is no air in your lungs at all, then the blood that goes from your lungs back to your heart and out to the rest of your body contains zero oxygen; you will remain conscious only until this blood reaches your brain. See [time of useful consciousness;](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_of_useful_consciousness) if your body experiences sudden decompression at or above 50,000 feet, you’ve got 6-9 seconds before you are useless, and not much longer than that before you’re completely out. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/27 "2016-08-17T19:25:51Z")
It’s been stated in this thread that it’s the CO2 build-up, and not lack of oxygen, that leads to the sense of air hunger. While it is the case that climbing CO2 levels are a more potent stimulus than is low oxygen for the need to breathe, declining oxygen levels will still very much make you feel short of breath. Just ask any patient with pneumonia (where low O2 but not high CO2 is the rule) or, for that matter, go for a hike up Everest without an oxygen pack and report back. With respect to the drug contents of the ISS medical kits, I am astounded to see that Demerol (meperidine, pethidine) is available. Honestly, I think it is incredible that such a toxic drug is provided (with a ridiculously short half-life to boot making its analgesic effect equally short). In addition to the potential for life-threatening drug interactions, Demerol at therapeutic doses, uniquely among narcotics, can cause seizures and ‘encephalopathy’, the latter being distinct from the usual euphoria of narcotics. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/28 "2016-08-17T19:33:15Z")
> [@RedSwinglineOne](#): > > Are you sure that is the reason? 15 seconds is pretty fast. People don’t pass out if they hold their breath for 15 seconds. People do pass out if the blood pressure to their brain drops. Maybe the lack of pressure on the outside of his body caused his blood pressure to drop? I’ve read it from multiple sources. Also, consider that your blood completely circulates through your body in about 30 to 60 seconds or so, depending on how physically active you are at the time. The path from your lungs to your brain is only a small portion of that entire round trip, so 15 seconds or so is definitely in the right ballpark. When people hold their breath, their lungs are still filled with air (they even have a fair amount of air in there if they exhale first then hold their breath), and the blood doesn’t completely pull all of the oxygen out of their lungs instantaneously. In near vacuum conditions, the lungs are pretty much emptied of air, which makes a big difference to the blood that’s going through them. This is what NASA has to say about it, based on animal studies: [QUOTE=Bioastronautics Data Book, Second edition, NASA SP-3006] Some degree of consciousness will probably be retained for 9 to 11 seconds (see chapter 2 under Hypoxia). In rapid sequence thereafter, paralysis will be followed by generalized convulsions and paralysis once again. During this time, water vapor will form rapidly in the soft tissues and somewhat less rapidly in the venous blood. This evolution of water vapor will cause marked swelling of the body to perhaps twice its normal volume unless it is restrained by a pressure suit. (It has been demonstrated that a properly fitted elastic garment can entirely prevent ebullism at pressures as low as 15 mm Hg absolute [Webb, 1969, 1970].) Heart rate may rise initially, but will fall rapidly thereafter. Arterial blood pressure will also fall over a period of 30 to 60 seconds, while venous pressure rises due to distention of the venous system by gas and vapor. Venous pressure will meet or exceed arterial pressure within one minute. There will be virtually no effective circulation of blood. After an initial rush of gas from the lungs during decompression, gas and water vapor will continue to flow outward through the airways. This continual evaporation of water will cool the mouth and nose to near-freezing temperatures; the remainder of the body will also become cooled, but more slowly. [/QUOTE] So the blood pressure does drop, but it takes longer than 15 seconds. NASA also says that the animals occasionally died due to heart fibrillation within the first minute. If fibrillation did not occur, the survival rate was very high if recompression occurred within 90 seconds. Once the heart stopped (usually around 90 seconds or so) the animals didn’t survive. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/29 "2016-08-17T19:36:41Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > While it is the case that climbing CO2 levels are a more potent stimulus than is low oxygen for the need to breathe, declining oxygen levels will still very much make you feel short of breath. Just ask any patient with pneumonia (where low O2 but not high CO2 is the rule) or, for that matter, go for a hike up Everest without an oxygen pack and report back. I can’t speak to the experience of Everest climbers but AFAIK the people in high-altitude simulation chambers (see my post upthread for link to videos) don’t report any sense of air hunger; they just get more and more stupid until they pass out. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/30 "2016-08-17T19:54:16Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Painless: > put suit on. Step outside. Use a sharp object to create a pinhole leak in the suit that allows the pressure inside the suit to fall very slowly. This will give time for you to equalize the pressure in your ears as the pressure falls, so you don’t experience any earache. At some point the pressure will be too low to oxygenate your blood, and you will become dizzy and then unconscious; the pressure will continue to fall, and you’ll die. I was thinking this. I’d try to be good and tired, take any medications that would help me sleep, hopefully out cold before I even notice any change. I guess I’d drop the pressure as far as I could right off the bat so my ears will adjust, assuming there’s a valve. Then poke a pinhole. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/31 "2016-08-17T19:54:34Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I can’t speak to the experience of Everest climbers but AFAIK the people in high-altitude simulation chambers (see my post upthread for link to videos) don’t report any sense of air hunger; they just get more and more stupid until they pass out. Everest is an extreme example. Would you not agree that people get breathless much faster when they exert themselves at higher altitudes? Even something as trivial as a short walk can leave you huffing and puffing if you’re not used to it (i.e. if you’re body hasn’t acclimatized by implementing processes and chemical changes that increase oxygen delivery to the tissues). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/32 "2016-08-17T19:56:42Z")
Interesting use of “acclimatized” without using quote marks. /not snark ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/33 "2016-08-17T20:01:50Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Interesting use of “acclimatized” without using quote marks. /not snark I was gonna use ‘scare quotes’ but then decided they really weren’t necessary in this instance. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/34 "2016-08-17T20:28:08Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Everest is an extreme example. > > Would you not agree that people get breathless much faster when they exert themselves at higher altitudes? Even something as trivial as a short walk can leave you huffing and puffing if you’re not used to it (i.e. if you’re body hasn’t acclimatized by implementing processes and chemical changes that increase oxygen delivery to the tissues). I understand that the [carotid body](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carotid_body) and other blood chemistry-sensing systems work to promote increased ventilation in response to low blood oxygen levels - which happen more easily at high altitude. But I don’t think this causes the same sense of suffering that high CO2 levels in the lungs does. At the top of Pikes Peak several years ago (14,000+ feet), I found that I had to take deliberate deep breaths to prevent tingling sensations in my extremities, but this was not at all the same sensation that I get when I hold my breath for a minute, or inhale from a mostly-empty 2-liter Coke bottle; the latter two are intensely unpleasant. Similarly, I have had my lungs filled with inert gas (nitrogen or helium) and held my breath to the point of dizziness (maybe 20 seconds), and never experienced any suffering or involuntary compulsion to breathe. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/35 "2016-08-17T22:48:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > They’d have no chance to send him suicide pills- if they could get that there, they could send him food just as easily. He’d have to do himself in with the materials on hand. In my post, I meant that they may have sent up suicide pills \*with \*him, not later. I think I remember hearing that the Apollo guys refused to take them up because if something went wrong, they’d want to spend their last hours/minutes sciencing as much as they can. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/36 "2016-08-17T22:54:53Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > What I picture is something mixed with _Tang_. More Tang?! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/37 "2016-08-17T23:21:53Z")
Thanks for the info **Machine Elf** and **engineer\_comp\_geek**. I incorrectly assumed that it would take longer for the oxygen levels in the blood to drop. I didn’t consider that the blood hitting the brain would be completely depleted of oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/38 "2016-08-18T00:11:25Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > they’d want to spend their last hours/minutes sciencing as much as they can. I vaguely remember some rude reporter interviewing someone in the space program about that. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/39 "2016-08-18T14:26:00Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Use a sharp object to create a pinhole leak in the suit that allows the pressure inside the suit to fall very slowly. This is the obvious answer. Anoxia is painless. (And can induce mild euphoria - pilots are warned that one of the common effects is a sense that “all is well and I’m feeling _fine_”). The resulting unconsciousness feels very much like falling peacefully asleep. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/40 "2016-08-18T23:52:15Z")
How slow would a leak need to be for the body to adapt to ambient atmosphere? Could humans eventually adapt to the point that, as long as they were getting enough oxygen, the Martian surface would be enough? Go from a pressurized full-body suit to something like a scuba tank and regulator? A FOR (Fresh Off Rocket) human would die instantly (explode, correct?), but 15 years down the line the “Training Wheels” (now called “Space Suits”) can be removed and the noobie can jump around with the best of them. Possible? Maybe an urban legend, but don’t the descendants of the Incas have adaptations for high altitude living? How about Sherpas? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034.md?page=3)