At the end of Space Cowboys, Hawk rides the Soviet missiles off into space. As the credits roll, we see his body lying on the moon. Now, the logistics of Hawk making it to the moon in one piece aside, what would happen to a human body left on the moon? I assume the space suit would delay the elements for a while, but then again I really am not sure what elements we’re talking about.
I searched the boards for this topic and could not find anything. Any ideas?
Unless it were frozen in a deep shadow, the body would probably end up freeze dried. The surface temperature on the moon cycles from around -150 to +110 centigrade each lunar day. With a good vacuum around it and plenty of heat, a human sized chunk of ice should completely sublimate (ie evaporate) over the course of a few days. It’d take some time for the pressure and thermal cycling to break down the seals on the suit, but once the body was exposed to vacuum the end result is inevitable.