• Question: If an astronaut died would you bring it down and do tests on the body to see and try and figure out how it happened.

    Asked by 295tch32 to Kirsty, Col Op, Charlie 🚀, Andrea on 22 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Kirsty Lindsay

      Kirsty Lindsay answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      They might get ejected into space or brought back to Earth- I think it depends on what happened.

      Hopefully we will never have to find out and all the astronauts will stay safe and well in space,

    • Photo: Columbus Operations

      Columbus Operations answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      Yes, he would be brought down to Earth. It’s for ethic reasons but also the Soyuz capsule is made for a crew of 3, and you need his mass for the center of gravity of the spaceship. Also there is space (a seat) for him/her, so it’d be easy to fit.
      We wouldn’t leave someone just outside for sure…

    • Photo: Andrea Boyd

      Andrea Boyd answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      Yes – they’d get brought back to Earth in a sealed bag. Their crewmates would swap the seat liners of the Soyuz because the pilot needs to be centre and co-pilot left seat, so they would put the body of their deceased crewmate in the right seat. If they couldn’t take the body back for some reason then they’d have to put something of equal weight in the right seat.

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