Space is mostly empty. Really, really empty. I mean, I suppose that, by definition, there’s more space junk in space than on Earth, but there’s a LOT more Earth junk on Earth than there is space junk in space.
Back to the OP, the one word that would best describe a corpse left in space would be “dry”. Even on Earth, a corpse left in an arid environment can end up dried enough to be fairly well preserved, and that’s nothing compared to space.
So, something to look forward to, then.
I would imagine the cosmic and stellar radiation will do a pretty good job of breaking down the bodies constituant atoms
I always thought “committed to the deep” was more appropriate for burials at sea, and especially space.
Tripler
“. . . boldly going where no body has gone before.”
Heat would be a big factor. Keep in mind that even in Earth orbit, astronauts need to rotate the spacecraft to avoid uneven heating. Otherwise the sunward side could get dangerously hot (I think the daytime temperature on the “cold” moon is said to be around 230F.
The corpse would probably be at a slow tumble, because it would take some effort to jettison it in a perfectly stable attitude, and there’s no cause to do so.
So we have a piece of meat tumbling in airless space at approximately the heat of a slow-cooker, but its heat dissipation is very slow (no air to convect).
The surface of the corpse would mummify fairly quickly. Probably also the limbs and skeletal muscles as well. However, I expect the nicely warmed abdomen would be extremely busy with bacterial activity for days or weeks while the gut flora decompose the innards. These would generate copious amounts of gas which would eventually rupture the abdomen and spew the liquid into space. Once the abdominal cavity is exposed to space, then I would expect it to dry gradually over the following weeks.
What happens after that really depends on the intensity of sunlight. At higher temperatures, in a low-oxygen environment, I would expect most of the corpse would turn to carbon (as happens when manufacturing charcoal). But at lower temps, I’d expect a regular freeze-mummy as is found in dry, cold places like the Andes.
So, long story short, your abdomen explodes with septic bacteria. Then your body either freeze-dries or carbonizes depending on how much sunlight you’re getting.
Seems like waste. No one is being shuffled off into space by accident, so why not attach a gimbaled nozzle to some convenient orifice on the departed? Add some simple remote control for the nozzle, and use the thrust generated to send off the dead to their final resting place, wherever that may be. At least you could steer him around for a short time.
You could have him do figure eights to entertain the space tourists…wait, wasn’t that the plot of an HBO series last year?
i remeber this question being asked a lot when star trek and i think battlestar galacticia was on tv… back then no one really knew… I know a few shows/movies started the trend of being cremated and then launched into space in an urn or bax
The fictional instances I remember of “burial in space” were Star Trek, the Wrath of Khan (actually just shooting a coffin at a planet) and Enemy Mine.
The Black Hole had a space burrial as well.
It’s not like the gut is sealed tight. It’s got openings at both ends. Moisture and gas will both escape easily, and the whole thing will dry out.
Topologically speaking, the gut is indeed sealed tight, and its lumen is outside the body. This is how the gut keeps the food outside our body so we can absorb nutrients without allowing pathogens or contaminants inside.
While you’re correct that the mouth and anus will allow some stomach and bowel contents to escape from the lumen of the gut, the rest of the abdominal cavity will stay sealed to the outside until it ruptures, as I said.
But, but, but… I thought the general coldness of space would penetrate through what is basically a few layers of tissue and cool down any longer term gut activity (admittedly based on nothing, but don’t let that stop me). Do we see something similar in avalanche victims or bodies on Everest, or am I misinterpreting the coldness of space (I get the solar radiation idea, but say beyond Mars)?
Space isn’t cold nor hot in the familiar sense. It’s nothing at all, so it is an extremely effective insulator. Space objects don’t lose heat via conduction or convection as it would in atmosphere - only by radiative heat loss. That process is much slower, and is easily overwhelmed by absorbing solar radiation.
having said that, playing around with some calculations I’m very rusty on, I calculate that a spherical human 100cm in diameter would cool down to freezing temps after about 5 hours in a dark vacuum (not exposed to the sun at all). This would stop the bacterial activity pretty decisively.
An object in space, at the distance of Earth’s orbit, will reach an equilibrium temperature not all that different from the average temperature of the Earth. This should not be surprising, since the Earth itself is, after all, an object in space at that distance.
Earth is actually a bit warmer due to greenhouse effect, but not by all THAT much.
Neato!
So, when I write the script for Gravity II, can I have Sandra Bullock and her dead fellow astronaut (who happens to a 1 metre round spherical human) drifting in space somewhere, tantalising close to but out of reach of an abandoned space shuttle that is her only hope for survival, and all she has is a small round hole punching device, some gaffer tape and a piece of hose for her bong? I can call the shuttle the Irruncible if you like.