# What to do with with dead bodies on Generation Ships **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514 "2023-06-14T17:58:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/21 "2023-06-14T19:49:17Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I’m pretty sure you couldn’t afford to loose the bio-mass. I’m not understanding. The dead person is no longer using up oxygen or eating food or drinking water. Seems to me I’m GAINING on the deal, not losing. Please elaborate. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/22 "2023-06-14T19:53:32Z")
The water, carbon, calcium, etc. in the body itself are precious resources that the colony needs to keep and re-use, unless they are hauling along A LOT of extra raw materials. I assume some kind of composting, as a way to re-use the resources while respecting the dead. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/23 "2023-06-14T19:55:28Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > The water, carbon, calcium, etc. in the body itself are precious resources that the colony needs to keep and re-use, unless they are hauling along A LOT of extra raw materials. Exactly this. Every time a crew member dies, if you’re jettisoning the body into space, you’re reducing the ship’s overall store of those resources by 100 to 200 pounds. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/24 "2023-06-14T20:12:20Z")
You are also losing the mass you must decelerate for arrival. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/25 "2023-06-14T20:18:23Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Sure, but then you have to overcome a pretty hefty cannibalism taboo, which is going to be difficult at best. There have been cultures that practiced [funeral cannibalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fore_people#Influence_of_kuru_and_other_diseases). The big downside there was the evolution of a prion disease like [kuru.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)) ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/26 "2023-06-14T20:21:20Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You are also losing the mass you must decelerate for arrival. Actually, that is a good thing. Generation ships would be very massive, and it would be a good idea to reduce its mass as much as possible in the last few years of the journey. Any mass you don’t have to decelerate will mean a reduced requirement for fuel at this stage. If possible you should transfer to a much smaller ship (perhaps the command section) and abandon the great bulk of your former home. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/27 "2023-06-14T21:38:08Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > If possible you should transfer to a much smaller ship (perhaps the command section) and abandon the great bulk of your former home. At that point, I’m assuming you knew the exoplanet was conducive to instant habitation, otherwise you might need that big ship live on until you get things set up. Just think of the mind-fuck that would be… leaving the only thing you’ve ever known to jump off onto terra firma. I gotta think there would be a large contingent that would refuse to leave. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/28 "2023-06-14T21:39:51Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > There have been cultures that practiced [funeral cannibalism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fore_people#Influence_of_kuru_and_other_diseases). The big downside there was the evolution of a prion disease like [kuru.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)) This is an absolutely horrible thing I didn’t know about until just now. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/29 "2023-06-14T21:51:04Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > To overcome both the “waste of resources” problem and the “cannibalism” problem, make it a multi-stage composting system. > > Have a “Memorial Garden” for burial. It grows plants that are strictly ornamental, but which also wilt regularly, and so must be routinely pruned and maintained. You can cut flowers that “used to be mom”, have them in your quarters for a few days, and then recycle those in the regular-for-food composting system. > > All the mass gets re-used eventually, it’s an ongoing memorial for the dead, and no one has to eat their mother. Win-win-win. This is how the family in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress did it. That’s a lunar colony, not a starship, but the basic principle is the same: You’re living in a tiny bubble of habitability in an otherwise-barren environment, so you can’t let anything go to waste. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2023, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/30 "2023-06-14T22:28:17Z")
You would have to take your hydroponic gardens, tractors, life support and landing vehicles with you. Cast lose some of your engines, fuel, dead bodies and things you won’t need, and decelerate with the remaining engines. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/31 "2023-06-14T22:38:02Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I’m not understanding. The dead person is no longer using up oxygen or eating food or drinking water. Seems to me I’m GAINING on the deal, not losing. Please elaborate. It’s a closed system - matter isn’t used up, it’s just shifted around. Energy is needed, probably to create light to make the plants grow, but other than that, the amount of matter stays the same, whether the passengers are dead or alive. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/32 "2023-06-14T22:53:43Z")
Can we turn them into fuel? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/33 "2023-06-14T23:00:17Z")
Dehydrate the corpse. Send the water to the hydroponics farm. Grind the dry corpse to powder. Send it to the compost heap for the regular farm. If people are too squeamish for that, use a series of chemical reactions to decompose the corpse into separate masses of carbon, nitrogen, iron, etc. Then recycle those. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/34 "2023-06-14T23:03:40Z")
I imagine that anyone signing on for a generation ship is already not squeamish or will soon get over it. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/35 "2023-06-14T23:08:05Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Can we turn them into fuel? Perhaps; or propellant. All the unused mass of a generation ship could be ground up and made into propellant, useful during the deceleration phase. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/36 "2023-06-15T00:38:45Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > So how to make reprocessing the dead palatable to the rest of the crew? I think this wouldn’t be an issue beyond the first generation. Subsequent generations won’t know anything else. They’ll be a product of whatever culture the first generation decides to create. That culture could be radically different from the one we have now. > [@ParallelLines](#): > > A side note, but leaving aside accidents, that taboo is most likely to be an issue with the first generation. But the later generations, I expect some form of natural (or more likely inculcated) tradition of service to the ship/greater good to be the forefront of any social evolution. Yes, this! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/37 "2023-06-15T00:57:55Z")
I agree with you. Did you ever read Heinlein’s _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_? The Davis family had agricultural tunnels, and they processed their dead. But they put their dead into the tunnel in which they grew flowers, not just regular plants. ---
**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:** [June 15, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/38 "2023-06-15T01:14:46Z")
And they give there all for the people in the ship. Sounds acceptable to the others, and their relatives. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/39 "2023-06-15T07:59:25Z")
Cannibalism is unlikely since, surely, there would be no meat of any kind. Using animals for food is pretty inefficient, so the whole ship would surely be vegetarian. Any animals that may be seen as desirable after a settlement would be carried as frozen embryos. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514/40 "2023-06-15T08:28:29Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Cannibalism is unlikely since, surely, there would be no meat of any kind. Using animals for food is pretty inefficient, so the whole ship would surely be vegetarian. Youn are probably right. The population of a generation ship might eat specially-designed, genetically-modified plant crops that give all the necessary amino acids and vitamins for a balanced diet. Or they might just eat GM algae grown in tanks, which would provide the same thing. Any dead humans would be ground up and fed to the plants or algae, rather than eaten whole. > [@bob\_2](#): > > Any animals that may be seen as desirable after a settlement would be carried as frozen embryos. Yes, but this requires additional technology. By the time we are ready to build generation ships (several hundred years from now) we will almost certainly have made great strides in biotechnology, and raising animals from frozen embryos would need artificial womb tech that we don’t yet have (but we probably will have by then). Indeed, you might even get away with just including digitised DNA. Note; you could use the same (or similar) technology to increase the human population, so that females need not be burdened with pregnancy and childbirth, and the population thus created could be much more genetically diverse than would be possible if the gene pool only consisted of the passengers and crew of the generation ship. The children would still need to be cared for and educated, although maybe robot nannies could take care of some of that. [![](https://rufiojones.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/rosie.jpg) ](https://rufiojones.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/rosie.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-to-do-with-with-dead-bodies-on-generation-ships/985514.md?page=3)