Body decomposition on foreign planet?

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Pithikos

Registered Member
What would happen if someone died on the moon or mars?

I have been reading quite some articles but nothing makes it clear to me. There are different opinions; some say that decay would be normal because of the body's already bacteria and some say that the decomposition would not take place. What's the truth?

A similar question would be about the decomposition of a fruit or vegetable.
 
Pithikos said:
What would happen if someone died on the moon or mars?
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The body (including any bacteria) would dessicate very quickly, and all biological activity (including bacteria) would then cease. Over time, UV (on the moon) and UV+wind (on Mars) would cause breakdown of the remainder of the body.
 
billvon said:
The body (including any bacteria) would dessicate very quickly, and all biological activity (including bacteria) would then cease. Over time, UV (on the moon) and UV+wind (on Mars) would cause breakdown of the remainder of the body.
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Depends on where on the surface the body is, I guess.
On the moon, if it's out of the sun it would be frozen solid. In the sun it would be cooked (100+ Celsius).
On mars it would be frozen most of the time, although during the daytime temperatures up to 20 Celsius are a possibility.
If temperature permits (and if the microbes haven't already been killed) the human body will decompose because of the microbes it carries with it.

Edit
Reading the post above, I have to agree that dessication is of course a major issue.
 
Enmos said:
Depends on where on the surface the body is, I guess.
On the moon, if it's out of the sun it would be frozen solid. In the sun it would be cooked (100+ Celsius).
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Right. But in both cases it would lose all its water very quickly.

On mars it would be frozen most of the time, although during the daytime temperatures up to 20 Celsius are a possibility.
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Right. Now what's the boiling point of water at Mars atmospheric pressures?

If temperature permits (and if the microbes haven't already been killed) the human body will decompose because of the microbes it carries with it.
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I think they still need water to decompose. There's a reason that mummies are pretty well preserved - because they are very dry.
 
billvon said:
Right. But in both cases it would lose all its water very quickly.

Right. Now what's the boiling point of water at Mars atmospheric pressures?

I think they still need water to decompose. There's a reason that mummies are pretty well preserved - because they are very dry.
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Easy there mate. If you look, you'll see I edited my post.
 
I see your points.

What if however the body was in a sealed strong suit that keeps the temperature steady inside? Then desiccation wouldn't be able to take place.
 
We could test it. :)

There are actually decomposition "farms" where decomposing bodies are studied to aid in future forensic cases.
 
Pithikos said:
I see your points.

What if however the body was in a sealed strong suit that keeps the temperature steady inside? Then desiccation wouldn't be able to take place.
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If you kept temperature, humidity, pressure and O2 levels constant then it would decompose pretty much like anyone else's body would.
 
billvon said:
If you kept temperature, humidity, pressure and O2 levels constant then it would decompose pretty much like anyone else's body would.
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So the bacteria of the body are enough to eat the whole body to the bone? Wouldn't the decomposition then take a really long time? Even on earth there has been found corpses 500 or more years old that haven't been fully decomposed.
 
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