Re: An outfit suitable for Mars

On 2005-08-16, Cardman <do-not@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> It would be best to just store them "outside" in order to keep them
> fresh, and no doubt irradiated, but the problem here is that NASA is
> unlikely to equip such a mission to allow people to go outside.

Hmm. If we're looking at the reference Mars Semi-Direct plan, or
something similar, as a baseline, I don't think so - you fly to Mars in
a hab vehicle, and land it. You'll need an airlock to get out of there
again... it may not be easy to use in flight, and the suits may not be
designed for "on-orbit" work, but I would be greatly surprised if you
couldn't somehow get out of the vehicle in flight if there was a major
pressing reason. And I suspect most doctors would argue "sharing your
living quarters with a corpse" is a major pressing reason to Do
Something.

> So I guess that it is true to say that the only real option is to
> supply this trip with a couple of airtight body-bags. Then you can
> like stand them in one corner and to try and forget the actual smelly
> contents. A back-up option is their Mars suit, as long as you do not
> try reusing it.

If cause of death is known, and not thought to be a result of the flight
conditions, it may well be felt that it'd be simpler and more hygenic to
"bury at sea"; wrap the body, shove out of airlock. If the ground want
the body returned for a medical examination, well, things get dicey. But
a simple autopsy may well be doable with enough telecoms capacity;
there'd certainly be a basic surgical kit on board.

This also removes a lot of the potential psychological issues from
having a corpse in the corner...

--
-Andrew Gray
andrew.gray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

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