While America’s space program has endured several tragedies, no mission has left the remains of a lost astronaut floating in the final frontier.
The agency organized protocols if an astronaut were to die on the International Space Station, a 450-ton web of metal tubes swirling around the planet in the inhospitable vacuum of space.
NASA’s current ISS death procedures revolve around a modified military-grade body called the Human Remains Containment Unit (HRCU).
NASA’s death protocol isn’t solely out of respect for the deceased astronaut and the mental well-being of the surviving crew, but for society at large.
When tragedy strikes the space program, it impacts the general public.
No mission has left the remains of a lost astronaut floating in the final frontier, despite the fact that America’s space program has seen numerous tragedies. It makes sense that NASA is ready for the worst-case situation. In the event that an astronaut died aboard the 450-ton network of metal tubes that circled the earth in the hostile vacuum of space, the agency set up procedures.
The Human Remains Containment Unit (HRCU), a modified military-grade body, is the focal point of NASA’s current ISS death procedures. Scientific American claims that the soiled piece of equipment was delivered to the station in 2012. If used and kept in a non-pressurized area, the HRCU would be incorporated into the ISS’s refrigeration system, much like morgues on Earth use refrigeration to slow the decomposition of human remains. This is on top of screw-on charcoal filter canisters and an absorbent lining. The intention was to allow NASA Flight Directors to make a decision within a 72-hour period.
In-Mission Forensic Sample Collection is a technique NASA trains its crews to perform without a medical examiner. While on the worst telemedicine call ever, the remaining astronauts would take pictures of the body and then gather samples of tissue, hair, blood, and other bodily fluids from NASA’s flight surgeons.
What would happen next? A small ceremony would be held to give the crew time to mourn. After that, NASA would probably bring the remains of an astronaut back to Earth. The HRCU has straps on the corners that can be looped through the seat restraints of a spacecraft. The organization might assign astronauts to place the remains in the seat of a deceased coworker. A conventional burial-at-sea would not be the ideal choice for a death on the ISS because the corpse might be encountered by the station in a future orbit. However, it would not be impossible for Spock’s funeral to be reenacted during “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” in a future deep-space mission. “.
NASA’s death protocol is in place for the benefit of society as a whole, not just the surviving crew members’ mental health and the departed astronaut. The public is impacted when a tragedy occurs in the space program. The Apollo 1 lunar program almost ended before it took off when the entire crew perished during a rehearsal.
The White House began its own preparations as a result of the response to Apollo 1. The speechwriter for President Richard Nixon, Bill Safire, had prepared a speech in case Apollo 11 was destroyed in 1969. The opening statement of the never-delivered public speech honoring Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin was, “Fate has decreed that the men who traveled to the moon to explore in peace will remain there to rest in peace.”. “.
Despite the safe landing and return of Armstrong and Aldrin, NASA has experienced disasters since Apollo 11. During launch and reentry, the Space Shuttles Columbia and Challenger were lost with all hands. Every catastrophe was seen as a tragedy for the entire country. A death in orbit might be viewed as a workplace accident given the growth of commercial spaceflight and space programs in other nations.
