NASA may not have specific contingency plans for a sudden death, but the agency is working on it in 2005 they commissioned a study from Swedish eco-burial company Promessa. And any problems that arise on Mars-technical issues or lack of food, for example-could leave an entire crew or colony stranded and fending for themselves. But as we move closer to a human mission to Mars, there’s a higher likelihood that individuals will die-whether that’s on the way, while living in harsh environments, or some other reason. When there have been fatalities, the entire crew has died, leaving no one left to rescue. That’s relatively low, considering our history of blasting folks into space without quite knowing what would happen. We’ve lost only 18 people in space-including 14 NASA astronauts-since humankind first took to strapping ourselves to rockets. Would Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong live out the rest of their days staring at the blue glow of Earth from 250,000 miles away? “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace,” read the contingency speech. ON JULY 21, 1969, when the Apollo 11 crew was due to depart the lunar surface after a 22-hour visit, two speeches were placed on President Richard Nixon’s desk.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |