If a dead body was floating around in space would it still decompose?

Answer 1

bacteria attacking your body for food causes decomposition. But our immune system fights them off very well when we're alive. When you die your immune system doesn't work and the bacteria can do eat whatever they want.
Your body probably has enough bacteria to decompose itself once your dead, but since space is such harsh environment for life, the bacteria could not survive.

you would cook into carbon from the heat of the sun if you were close enough- the closer the faster. and freeze if you were far away enough from the sun or in a shadowed area for a few minutes I suppose.

decompression might happen, but I doubt it would destroy much of your pulpy mass of dead flesh.

cellular decompression (the cells in your body collapsing) could be interesting over time, esp when adding such extreme tempurates.

I think with all elements combined, you would crumble to dust, or fall into a stars/planets gravitational pull rather than rot.

Answer 2

Actaully.. if the space shuttle lost all power.. it wouldn't float off into space.. but depending upon it's current position in it's flight pattern it would either return rapidly to the earth and most likely burn up in the astmosphere or it would simply slip into a slow descentigrating orbit to eventually meet the same fate. Keep in mind the Shuttle never attempts to break free of the Earth's gravity and therefore it won't 'drift off' into space. Now.. if there was a malfunction and the rockets turned on and didn't turn off then there is a possiblity there would be enough thrust to break the pull of gravity and leave orbit. If this was the case or we tried to send someone to the moon or mars and something went amis and left them drifting in space then no their bodies would not decompose. At least not in the since we see here on earth. For once the fuel runs out so does the heat and thus the interior would then freeze and the docomposition would cease. That being said the radioactive bombardment from the sun and other stars would eventually cause a different type of deteriation. Now.. to answer the other question.. could a craft from somewhere else be drifting around. If we believe there is other intelligent life out there and those aliens would be making an attempt at space travel and they run into the same issues as outlined above.. the hey, hey.. there just might be some ship adrift in space with some type of life form remains in them. Now for the final question... could it hit earth. Possible.. but it would to travel millions of years to get here.. because the ship would be adrift and thus moving a slow speed and considering the nearest planet with the possiblity for life is light-years away.... I doubt any ship adrift would make it here before the rigers of space destroyed it. At least... in my humble opinion.

Answer 3

No, it would probably be icy because of the extreme cold, but it would not decompose, as there is no bacteria or organisms in space to eat the body. It would be preserved for possibly millions and millions of years unless it crashed into something like a star or a planet.

Answer 4

Yes, in a way it would. The bible says "ashes to ashes, dust to dust, etc.", and makes no provisions for exceptions due to conditions in outer space or otherwise. Many people believe in the bible so for them this is true and in that way a dead body floating around in outer space would decompose. But otherwise, no, it would not (because that is scientifically impossible).

Answer 5

Yes, it would decompose -- just not in the same manner as it does on earth. Instead of biological decomposition, cosmic rays would eventually break apart all organic substances, reducing corpses to inorganic fragments and dust.

Answer 6

thats a big NO! How cud a body decompose when in space. Microbes are wat inhabit the dead body and 'decompose' it. So its impossible for the body to decompose in space as even microbes cant live without air. and i space there is no air( in particular oxygen). So it wont happen. Clear?

Answer 7

Decomp usually requires the minisule life forms in the air to rot. Consequently freezing a body would stop it from decomp. Embalming would stop the decomp from within, but not from the outside. (as in the case of one recently demised female star) In space the body would probably be the same as in a freezer, not outside air to act on or affect the dead body. It may decomp in time, but would be a long time.

Answer 8

No. It would be dried out, since all the liquids would evaporate, leaving a mummy. Decomposition wouldn't happen as that is a reaction requiring oxygen, of which there is a considerable dearth in space.

Answer 9

no, there would be nothing to decompose it. it would be like taking you and putting you in space. you would die, but you would stay the same forever, until they brought you down.

Answer 10

It would be freeze dried,when you touched it,it would disintegrate to dust.All moisture would be eliminated through freeze drying. Decomposition as we know it would not exist.