What Happens If You Get Lost In Space?

As the era advances, space journeys and exploration are becoming much more likely. However, with all of the excitement comes a prime concern: the hazard worried.

One of the most frightening factors of a space tour is the possibility of getting misplaced. Imagine an astronaut drifting far away from their spaceship; it is a totally precarious state of affairs.

Surviving in space without the right gadget would be extraordinarily hard. Space is a massive vacuum, sucking out all the air and moisture out of your frame. You’d speedy end up dehydrated, freeze, and suffocate.

Additionally, there are threats from radiation and tiny space particles that could cause serious harm. Let’s take a better look at the various risks and demanding situations of space tours.

The Vacuum of Space

When someone ends up lost in space, they’re facing the vacuum out there. That means there’s no air pressure or atmosphere around them. Being in this vacuum comes with a bunch of dangers that could end up deadly for humans.

Lack of Oxygen

In space, there’s no oxygen for us to breathe. Without oxygen, our bodies can’t make energy, and our brains won’t work right. So, within just a few minutes, we’d pass out and, eventually, die.

Extreme Temperatures

Space swings between extreme temperatures. Without an atmosphere to even things out, it’s freezing cold in the shade, dropping to around -250 degrees Fahrenheit (-156 degrees Celsius). But step into sunlight, and it skyrockets to about 250 degrees Fahrenheit (121 degrees Celsius). So, whether you’re freezing or roasting, it’s clear you would only last a short time out there.

Radiation Exposure

Space is saturated with radiation from the sun and various other sources. Without Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic shield to shield us, humans get bombarded with intense radiation.

This radiation can mess up our DNA and cause things like cancer, radiation sickness, and even death. But it doesn’t happen right away, at least not fatally.

What’s more likely is that someone adrift in space would start feeling the effects of acute radiation sickness. That means nausea, vomiting, and being totally wiped out.

Radio tower against starry sky

So, this brings up the question:

How Many Astronauts Got Lost in Space?

There have been numerous degrees of serious incidents over the years while astronauts have ended up misplaced in space.

1965 noticed one noteworthy occasion for the duration of the Gemini 4 challenge. First American astronaut Ed White struggled to go back to the spacecraft following his spacewalk. Although he made it back without incident, spacewalking consists of sure risks. Accordingly, meticulous guidance is vital.

An other historic moment came about in 1984 for the duration of the STS-41-B challenge when American astronaut Bruce McCandless used the Staffed Maneuvering Unit (MMU) to carry out the primary untethered spacewalk. His famous picture of him floating freely with Earth at the back of him got here to represent human area flight. Bruce could have been momentarily misplaced in the area at some point during this audacious maneuver.

Then, there was the terrible event of the Soviet Soyuz Eleven task in 1971. A broken valve in the spacecraft’s air delivery device killed 3 cosmonauts who had been returning to Earth.

How many people have died in the area, then? In five distinct mishaps as of 2024, 15 astronauts and 4 cosmonauts had perished. The formal boundary of the area is marked through the Kármán line, which three of these mishaps occurred beyond, and one project was alleged to have skipped. Tragically, the entire team was misplaced in every coincidence.

There were 19 said deaths out of the 676 spaceflights finished so far.

Read also: Is There Life on Titan?

Can You Float Away In Space Forever?

One of the biggest fears about being lost in space is the idea of drifting off into eternity.

But the truth is, if an astronaut were to become untethered from their spacecraft, they wouldn’t drift forever.

Studio shot of woman space explorer sitting on chair against planet background.

In space, there’s no air to slow things down. So, they’d keep moving at the same speed and direction as the spacecraft. They wouldn’t speed up because there’s no force pushing them. Eventually, though, the gravitational pull of nearby objects would alter their path. They’d either get pulled toward something else or start orbiting around it. And that brings us to the final question.

How Long Until Body Decomposes in Space?

Well, decomposition in space would be a whole different ball game compared to what happens on Earth. There’s no oxygen, moisture, or microbes floating around to kickstart the process.

But let’s imagine a scenario where a body ends up exposed to outer space without any protection. It would go through something called desiccation, where the water inside the body evaporates super fast because of the vacuum.

This would leave the body dried out and freeze-dried.

Then, the body would experience some chemical changes from all the cosmic radiation and ultraviolet light it’s exposed to. But this would likely happen slower than decomposition on Earth.

Basically, how long it takes for a body to decompose in space depends on stuff like how close it is to a star (which affects how much radiation it gets), if there are any tiny critters or other bio stuff around, and whether it’s shielded by a spacesuit or spacecraft.

But it would take way longer than here on Earth. We’re talking years, maybe even decades.

Conclusion

As technology advances, space travel becomes more likely. However, there are dangers to consider. Being lost in space is a terrifying prospect due to the vacuum, lack of oxygen, extreme temperatures, and radiation exposure. Astronauts have faced this risk in the past, such as Ed White during the Gemini 4 mission and Bruce McCandless during the STS-41-B mission. These incidents highlight the importance of careful planning in space exploration.

Three cosmonauts tragically died in 1971 during the Soviet Soyuz 11 flight because a valve didn’t work right. There have been 19 deaths of pilots and cosmonauts in space. If an astronaut were to float away from their spaceship, they wouldn’t stay in one place forever; eventually, the gravitational pull of nearby objects would force them to change their direction. In space, decomposition would happen more slowly than on Earth. It could take years or even decades, based on many factors.

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