# What would've happened if the astronaut who stayed in the Apollo command module died? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483 "2023-04-11T02:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Loggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loggins)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483/21 "2023-04-11T19:39:15Z")
Apropose, what do they do with dead bodies in a small space module? Throw it out? ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483/22 "2023-04-11T20:01:00Z")
I assume if we can think of it, the NASA engineers did too. It depends on the circumstances - why did he die? I find it hard to believe the CM hatch, once docked, could not be opened from the outside - the only issue is relative pressure. There was no need to “lock” it to prevent break-ins. If the problem was loss of pressure, then the LEM would need to be depressurized, a function which they were doing anyway to get onto the moon. Then the obvioys question is “why?” Is the command module not capable of pressure? Would the surviving astronauts have to live in the LEM and transfer into the capsule at the last minute in full suit for reentry? I presume there were contingencies for an hour or two of suit life without those monstrous backpacks (would they use them if a spacewalk was needed?). Apollo 13 showed that the LEM had supplies for 3 for the full trip. Did the astronaut have a heart attack? Was he having a claustrophobic attack and incapacitaed? If he had died, I presume general decency would mean bringing his remains to earth so simplest thing would be to seal him in his suit to avoid the eventual unpleasant odors… Unless NASA decided burial in space (burned on reentry) was an appropriate ending. I assume the spacewalk contingency was for if either top hatch for some reason jammed. I also assume that ground control could initiate depressurization before the hatch opened if that was required to open the side hatch. Plus, they’d have health telemetry from each suit, so they could tell whether the lone astronaut was still alive before initiating depressurization. I suppose if you put together enough failures, you could come up with a scenario where things were irretrievably toast. But allow enough options, and it would take a lot to completely foil the mission. After all, I would think the owrst scenario would be being unable to fire the return rocket. I’m sure they analyzed that possibility to the fullest also. The engineers’ job was to plan for anything they could think of. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483/23 "2023-04-11T21:12:05Z")
General decency aside, presumably Nasa would want the body returned for an autopsy if at all possible. IIRC this is current protocol in case an astronaut dies in space. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483/24 "2023-04-11T21:33:12Z")
The ill-fated Soyuz 11 mission. At least no one exploded. > **[Soyuz 11](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11)** > > Soyuz 11 (Russian: Союз 11, lit. 'Union 11') was the only crewed mission to board the world's first space station, Salyut 1 (Soyuz 10 had soft-docked, but had not been able to enter due to latching problems). The crew, Georgy Dobrovolsky, Vladislav Volkov, and Viktor Patsayev, arrived at the space station on 7 June 1971, and departed on 29 June 1971. The mission ended in disaster when the crew capsule depressurised during preparations for re-entry, killing the three-man crew. The t The origina... ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483/25 "2023-04-11T21:34:18Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I saw in a documentary that you can fix that with an Inanimate Carbon Rod… 😀 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483/26 "2023-04-12T16:17:33Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > The ill-fated Soyuz 11 mission. At least no one exploded. > [Soyuz 11 - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11) Brutal. Basically, their blood boiled and they were asphyxiated. They are the only people to have died in space. I had never before heard of this. > On opening the hatch, they found all three men in their couches, motionless, with dark-blue patches on their faces and trails of blood from their noses and ears. They removed them from the descent module. Dobrovolsky was still warm. The doctors gave artificial respiration. Based on their reports, the cause of death was suffocation". It quickly became apparent that they had asphyxiated. The fault was traced to a breathing ventilation valve… > **[Soyuz 11 | Re-entry and death](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11#Re-entry_and_death)** > > On 29 June 1971, the three cosmonauts loaded scientific specimens, films, tapes, and other gear into Soyuz 11, then transferred manual control back from Salyut 1 to Soyuz 11 and returned to their ferry craft, with undocking occurring at 18:28 GMT. Soyuz 11 flew co-orbit for a while before it retro-fired at 22:35 GMT in preparation for re-entry. Before re-entering Earth's atmosphere, both the work compartment and the service module were jettisoned. This occurred at about 22:47 GMT, when radio comm... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-wouldve-happened-if-the-astronaut-who-stayed-in-the-apollo-command-module-died/982483.md?page=1)