The Daily Star's FREE newsletter is spectacular! Sign up today for the best stories straight to your inbox Sign up today! Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Even astronauts have claimed they don’t know what the death protocol is in space.

In his book, An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Colonel Chris Hadfield recalls a NASA training exercise called a "death sim”.

Col. Hadfield had the bizarre experience of listening to his colleagues argue about what to do with his corpse.

He wrote: “There are no body bags on Station, so should we shove it in a spacesuit and stick it in a locker?

“But what about the smell? Should we send it back to Earth on a resupply ship and let it burn up with the rest of the garbage on re-entry?

(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

“Jettison it during a spacewalk and let it float away into space?” Luckily, so far no astronauts have died while working on the International Space Station (ISS) with all space-related fatalities happening during launch or landing. But as traveling through space becomes commonplace and we head out on three-month trips to colonise Mars, death in space becomes inevitable. World-famous mortician Caitlin Doughty — who has made a career out of promoting death acceptance — reckons there are three options for dealing with a space corpse which she outlines in her new book, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Bring the body back to Earth Caitlin pointed out that if an astronaut’s body is being returned to Earth, it will have to wait for a return shuttle so the priority is keeping it cool. Unfortunately, the ISS is small and there is definitely no room for a space mortuary. “On the International Space Station, astronauts keep trash and food waste in the coldest part of the station,” Caitlin wrote, and noted this is probably the best option. However, stuffing a “fallen space hero” in with the rubbish is “not the best public relations move”, she added. (Image: Getty Images)



Build an onboard eco-cremation system Caitlin said that, in 2005, NASA collaborated with Swedish company Promessa to design a “Body Back” prototype system. In the system, the body would be “thrust into the shuttle’s airlock” which is almost Absolute Zero at -270C. After an hour, the frozen corpse would be vibrated by a robot arm for 15 minutes, turning it into chunks which would then be dehydrated — turning the astronaut’s body to a lightweight powder. Caitlin said this powder could then be given to the grieving family “just like you would a very heavy urn of cremated remains”. (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)