Since the trips began in 1969, 21 people have died on the way to space. Most died in tragic accidents caused by structural failures or technical problems that led to the disintegration or complete destruction of the ships.
The reason behind the lack of sudden deaths is because of the demanding physical preparation that astronauts have. In order to travel to space, your health becomes a priority and can be an impediment to the final trip.
But what happens in the event of a spacewalk accident?
At the moment, it is known that in case a spacewalker has a tear in his suit, his eyes will not pop like in the movies, but he does face a race against time. You only have a few seconds to react before you lose consciousness and finish dead from suffocation.
The main enemy is the lack of pressure in the environment. With just 10 seconds of exposure, the water in the muscles turns into gas and is stored in the middle of the skin, causing the body to expand. 20 seconds later his lungs collapse, he is paralyzed and he dies.
What happens on the International Space Station in case someone dies?
The POT It does not have action protocols in these situations, but rather works collaboratively between the controllers, international organizations and the inhabitants of the station.
Although there is no clear protocol, each of the astronauts traveling to the International Space Station, you must train certain reactions in case of emergency. Commander Chris hadfield in his book “An Astronaut’s Guide to Living on Earth” he describes the logistical problems it could bring.
To prevent rapid decomposition and bacteria from swarming the station, Commander Hadfield says he would prefer keep the body in its pressurized suits in the coldest sector of the station (the one that coincides with the waste deposit).
He even says that something more poetic could be done, leave the body of the brave explorers adrift in space. The problem is that the body would probably continue to travel in the same orbit of the space station, so that from time to time the astronauts would encounter the bodies of their fallen companions.
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