# 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:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**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 19, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/41 "2016-08-19T01:11:51Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Maybe an urban legend, but don’t the descendants of the Incas have adaptations for high altitude living? I believe that they chewed cocoa leaves, but they had a lot more oxygen than Mars offers. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/42 "2016-08-19T03:52:16Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > 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? No. To a human, the Martian atmosphere is, for all intents and purposes, a vacuum. While you can adapt to the atmosphere at high altitudes, there’s a limit and Mars’ atmospheric pressure is way below that limit. PS AIUI, human bodies don’t explode when exposed to a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/43 "2016-08-19T13:49:56Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > He seemed _very_ leery of that buried generator thingy he recovered. [Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator). Basically it contains enough highly radioactive material that it gives off enough heat to be useful, just through natural decay. IIRC, in the book it was part of the unmanned packages that were sent to the landing site before the astronauts arrived, and their first action after landing was to bury it in a clearly marked spot far away from them. Watney used it so he wouldn’t freeze in the rover at night. The materials used give off mostly alpha particles, so he’d have to break it open, swallow some of it, and wait a few weeks for an agonizing death. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/44 "2016-08-19T14:47:23Z")
He also had a fair quantity of [hydrazine](https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/hydrazin.html) available and a good whiff of that will kill you pretty quickly… Or you just set it to go boom. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/45 "2016-08-21T15:00:27Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Could humans eventually adapt to the point that, as long as they were getting enough oxygen, the Martian surface would be enough? No. The maximum (Earth) altitude at which breathing pure oxygen keeps a human alive and properly functioning is something like 38,000 ft. The atmosphere on Mars yields a surface pressure equivalent to ~100,000 ft on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/46 "2016-08-21T15:03:43Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > He also had a fair quantity of [hydrazine](https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/hydrazin.html) available and a good whiff of that will kill you pretty quickly… From your link: > [@](#): > > Symptoms of acute exposure to high levels of hydrazine include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, temporary blindness, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, and coma in humans. Acute exposure can also damage the liver, kidneys, and the central nervous system (CNS) in humans. (2-4) > > The liquid is corrosive and may produce chemical burns and severe dermatitis from skin contact. (1,4) It doesn’t sound like a pleasant way to go. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/47 "2016-08-21T15:11:32Z")
> [@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. > > No excessive CO2 buildup during this time, so no sense of “air hunger”. Ideally your last moments of consciousness will be in a state of stupefaction that makes it difficult to understand what’s happening. For reference, see [videos of altitude chamber training](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=altitude+chamber) in which test subjects become dim-witted after a couple of minutes at simulated high altitude. In some cases they can’t even follow the instructions to put their own oxygen mask back on, requiring an instructor to do it for them (sometimes after they’ve passed out). Couldn’t that backfire? The Martian atmosphere, what little of it there is, is 95.3% CO2. So there might actually be a CO2 buildup. ---
**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 21, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/48 "2016-08-21T18:16:50Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > No. The maximum (Earth) altitude at which breathing pure oxygen keeps a human alive and properly functioning is something like 38,000 ft. The atmosphere on Mars yields a surface pressure equivalent to ~100,000 ft on Earth. An interesting and explanative comparison. I had no idea it was that low. ---
**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 22, 2016, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/49 "2016-08-22T13:41:13Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Couldn’t that backfire? The Martian atmosphere, what little of it there is, is 95.3% CO2. So there might actually be a CO2 buildup. The pinhole leak lets air _out_ of your suit. At some point the pressure in your suit is low enough for you to lose consciousness; this pressure is still above Martian atmospheric, so the Martian atmosphere won’t be coming into your suit (or into your lungs) before you’re unconscious/dead. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astronaut-is-stranded-on-mars-how-could-he-commit-suicide-open-spoilers-for-the-martian/763034/50 "2016-08-22T15:00:56Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > From your link: > > It doesn’t sound like a pleasant way to go. From the briefings I had in the military at very high levels you’d basically pass out and die very quickly; similar in a way to hydrogen sulfide poisoning. [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=2)