# If just 1 astronaut died on the Moon... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203 "2011-09-05T00:28:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/21 "2011-09-05T13:14:10Z")
One astronaut could have taken off alone, lifting off was a lot less involved for the crew than landing was. Docking between the two craft in lunar orbit was done by the astronaut in the command module, so that wouldn’t have been a problem either. The toughest part would be the live astronaut trying to get the dead one up the ladder and through the tiny hatch. Making it tougher is that you can’t work on it from both sides - once he’s in the doorway you need to get him through all by pushing from the outside or all by pulling from the inside. The astronauts were all physically fit, smart, highly motivated men, so maybe he could get it done, but I think it may have been pretty much impossible. Although, he’s dead anyway, so wouldn’t taking him out of the suit make it easier to maneuver him through the doorway? I don’t want to think about them being crammed in a small spacecraft with a floating dead body for a few days on the trip home however… And as others have said, they may have decided it would have been more the deceased’s wishes to stay on the moon. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/22 "2011-09-05T13:25:50Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Does anyone else find the term “widows-to-be” a little… off? :dubious: It _is_ rather strange. Though not as strange as the visual I had of them howling at the moon. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/23 "2011-09-05T13:27:03Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Possibly. I don’t know much about the LEM, so I don’t know if there would have been room to safely carry another ~170 pounds of moon rocks. Load up his boots and spacesuit with rocks, doesn’t seem all that difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/24 "2011-09-05T13:28:50Z")
> [@Santos\_L\_Halper](#): > > The toughest part would be the live astronaut trying to get the dead one up the ladder and through the tiny hatch. Surely 16.6% G is going to make this require less than brutal effort? ---
**Author:** ![randomface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@randomface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomface)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/25 "2011-09-05T13:30:30Z")
Moon rocks can’t be left in open atmosphere on the lunar module without risking issues. Even the dust caused problems for the astronauts. It’s a fine powder that is microscopically sharp and chemically unstable. I think one of the astronauts commented that it smelled like burnt gunpowder. > **[NASA - Apollo Chronicles: The Mysterious Smell of Moondust](https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/30jan_smellofmoondust.html)** > > Long after the last Apollo astronaut left the moon, a mystery lingers: Why does moondust smell like gunpowder? ---
**Author:** ![EarlyMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@EarlyMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarlyMan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/26 "2011-09-05T13:50:03Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The lander didn’t return to earth, though. The astronauts transferred all the rocks and all of the equipment they wanted to take back into the command module while still in lunar orbit, then jettisoned the ascent stage and let it crash into the moon’s surface. I recall scientists on earth would even record the seismic shock of the LM’s crashing into the lunar surface. I myself need a cite on that one - they’re saying that they could detect seismic activity from a machine weighing maybe 20,000 pounds crashing into the moon with a gravitational pull only 1/6th the gravity of earth from 1/4 of a million miles away!?!? :eek: EarlyMan ---
**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:** [September 5, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/27 "2011-09-05T13:56:29Z")
They would have detected the activity from instruments place on the moon by the astronauts. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/28 "2011-09-05T14:01:57Z")
NM. Too slow. ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/29 "2011-09-05T14:07:26Z")
> [@EarlyMan](#): > > I myself need a cite on that one - they’re saying that they could detect seismic activity from a machine weighing maybe 20,000 pounds crashing into the moon with a gravitational pull only 1/6th the gravity of earth from 1/4 of a million miles away!?!? :eek: > > EarlyMan I’m pretty sure seismic equipment was among the scientific package left behind on each landing. I don’t know how long the packages were able to transmit, but surely longer than it took for the astronauts to get back to earth. This is the source of the pictures of the ascent stage taking off. ETA: I’ve actually had idiots argue with me that this is proof we never landed on the moon, otherwise how could we have film of the takeoff? ---
**Author:** ![EarlyMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@EarlyMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EarlyMan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/30 "2011-09-05T14:51:19Z")
> [@Satchmo](#): > > I’m pretty sure seismic equipment was among the scientific package left behind on each landing. I don’t know how long the packages were able to transmit, but surely longer than it took for the astronauts to get back to earth. This is the source of the pictures of the ascent stage taking off. > > ETA: I’ve actually had idiots argue with me that this is proof we never landed on the moon, otherwise how could we have film of the takeoff? I guess I misunderstood the statement. When I read that scientists back on earth would record the seismic shock, I thought it meant that they detected the seismic event using equipment back on earth. My Bad. :smack: EarlyMan ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/31 "2011-09-05T15:46:19Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Surely 16.6% G is going to make this require less than brutal effort? I didn’t mean because of the weight, I meant because of the general awkwardness of trying to push a lifeless spacesuit up a ladder and through a tiny hatch while you yourself are in a spacesuit. Or alternately tying a rope around the body, climbing up and into the lunar module and trying to pull it up and in after you. The hatch was 32" square, a tight fit for a living astronaut to go thought: [photo here](http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/a11_h_40_5863.html) Although his backpack could be removed, so that would help a bit. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/32 "2011-09-05T16:03:33Z")
Did the LEM have an airlock that needed to be operated from inside somehow? Could two men have fit into it at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/33 "2011-09-05T16:06:44Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > Did the LEM have an airlock that needed to be operated from inside somehow? Could two men have fit into it at the same time? Nope, no airlock. They depressurized the whole compartment to exit, and then left it unpressurized until they returned. The entire habitable volume of the lunar module wasn’t all that much bigger than a two man airlock would have been anyway. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/34 "2011-09-05T16:09:58Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Does anyone else find the term “widows-to-be” a little… off? :dubious: Well, what else could they be called? I can’t imagine the horror of knowing my husband has been left on the moon to die. How long would it take? What would he die from? Lack of oxygen? ---
**Author:** ![Mogle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mogle/32/12021_2.png) [@Mogle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mogle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/35 "2011-09-05T16:35:42Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > How long would it take? What would he die from? Lack of oxygen? If I were to guess, I’d say CO[sub]2[/sub] poisoning. The CO[sub]2[/sub] scrubbers would probably be saturated long before they ran out of O[sub]2[/sub]. Not sure how long it would take, but on Apollo 13 the LM was designed to support two people for two days. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/36 "2011-09-05T16:52:37Z")
If you need the astronaut’s weight but can’t get him through the door, just duct tape him to the outside. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/37 "2011-09-05T17:02:02Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > If you need the astronaut’s weight but can’t get him through the door, just duct tape him to the outside. I was thinking about that, too. 🙂 I’m not sure that there’s somewhere you could attach him that wouldn’t get in the way of the maneuvering thrusters, plus if he fell off during the lift off it’d probably throw off the weight balance causing the craft to crash. They could strap him down on top of the ascent stage, but then he’d be in the way of the docking hatch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/38 "2011-09-05T17:20:27Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > Well, what else could they be called? Wives or Astronaut’s wives or something along those lines as opposed to women who’s husbands are about to die but haven’t yet. They were still married to living men at that point. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/39 "2011-09-05T17:25:54Z")
> [@EarlyMan](#): > > I myself need a cite on that one - they’re saying that they could detect seismic activity from a machine weighing maybe 20,000 pounds crashing into the moon with a gravitational pull only 1/6th the gravity of earth from 1/4 of a million miles away!?!? :eek: > > EarlyMan > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > They would have detected the activity from instruments place on the moon by the astronauts. Yes, as a kid I was an avid watcher of the moon missions. The astronauts did exactly this. They would plant sensors at the landing site, then when they jettisoned the LM, they would calculate the trajectory so it would crash near the sensors. The sensors radioed the data back to earth. ---
**Author:** ![Yumblie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/76d3ee/32.png) [@Yumblie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumblie)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203/40 "2011-09-05T18:15:48Z")
Related question: suppose they buried the body on the moon. How long would it take to decay, both with or without the suit? Burying it underground would shield it from most radiation, though bacteria in the body begin eating it from inside out after death. Still though, I imagine parts of the body (and the suit) would be well preserved for a long time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-just-1-astronaut-died-on-the-moon/595203.md?page=3)