in space!!!

[rugeleyboy]

if a person died in space and he found himself just floating into the universe................... would his body decompose???

obviously there is no moisture or air but.......................???

[Doc Spock]

still working on it, heres a start.

http://space.about.com/cs/basics/a/bodyvacuum1 .htm

[bobtheturkey]

the average temperature in space is -270c therefore the body would be frozen, there is no oxygen in space therefore no micro organisms to break the body down, the body would stay in a mummified state for a long time, however some oraganisms can survive without oxygen and these would break the body down over a long period of time

[Joe_the_Lion]

Put a piece of body temerature steak in a thermos flask and leave. Open it in a few years and see.

[whiffey]

p.s. send the thermos flask to outer space.

How many organisms does anybody know that will thrive at -270C without oxygen ? Even domestic freezers on dear old Earth manage to avoid that problem.

No you would not decompose, but since your soul would have been long since sorted, does the state of your lon-vacated body matter ?

[rugeleyboy]

well i am shocked!!!

3 of the most famous AB "pi55 takers" have given me (another pi55taker) a straight answer!!!!

[rugeleyboy]

its only a question whiffster?

[bobtheturkey]

http://www.mim.dk/Nyheder/Engelsk+nyhedsbrev/A rkiv/2006/Danish_Environment_Newsletter_no_6_2 006/Animals+can+breathe+without+oxygen.htm

[bobtheturkey]

there you go needle brain :)

[jake-the-peg]

Actually there are micro-organisms that can survive in space. They are part of a group called extremophiles.

Extremophiles have been found in incredible places volcanic vents for example, in nuclear reactors and attached to spacecraft.

You also have to be carefull about assuming that space is cold. In deep space that is certainly true but in Earth orbit, in sunlight things can hot up a bit.

Interesting little calculation here for the temperature of a simple flat plate in orbit - comes out at 394 �K which is about 120�C.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/Numbers/Math/ Mathematical_Thinking/estimating_the_temperatu re.htm

I'm not expert inough in micro-biology to know whethere extremophiles would be able to decompose a body but it's certainly not as simple a question as it at first sounds.

[jake-the-peg]

Cont...

Interestingly that link from Doc Spock is a bit misleading - it says There have actually been cases of parts of astronauts bodies being exposed to vacuum, when suits were damaged. The results were negligible.

I remember a similar question coming up some time ago and I found 2 cases of accidental vacuum expose. One case was fatal and another when a suit ripped in a test facility the victim was rescued in under a minute, he survived but was hospitalised (I doubt he described it as negligable!)