• Question: what would happen to a dead body floating space?

    Asked by radrunna to Cathal, Daphne, Darren, Jon, Katherine on 13 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Daphne Ng

      Daphne Ng answered on 13 Mar 2012:

      Interesting question. Going by the assumption that there are no microbes in space (this may change if we find life outside Earth), rate of decomposition would be slower than that on Earth. I’m guessing that the body will still decompose because there are microbes in our bodies such as in our mouths, skin and intestines. Some of these microbes may be able to survive in space! So they may still be able to break down the dead body but the rate may be slower as the environment in space may not be suitable for microbes from Earth.

    • Photo: Katherine Haxton

      Katherine Haxton answered on 21 Mar 2012:

      The body would freeze, and so would probably be preserved. If the person was still alive when pushed out the air lock, the vacuum of space would do quite a bit of damage to their body before they died. Not sure what would happen if the body was already dead though.

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