If you die of meningitis, it’s a combination of the physical damage to the neurons by the swelling of the brain, plus the direct toxic effect of bacterial compounds. Or gets fried by radiation. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. If we were doing an intergalactic voyage, I felt compelled to talk about some of these things that we're not sure if they exist, we're not sure if they are going to be threats, we're not sure if you're going to encounter them. Please use the data details tab to explore all the odds of dying estimates. The wearer's arms, legs and feet are covered by the spacesuit, much like her whole body. Science fiction media has approached this question for decades. When I ran across something cool, I worked it into some chapter. Remember what Dr. McCoy said: It's "disease and danger, wrapped in darkness and silence." Join Paul Sutter in a brilliant and breathtakingly vivid tour of the universe, describing the physics of the dangerous, the deadly, and the scary in the cosmos. Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, U.S. files conspiracy charge against Oath Keeper leader in alleged plot against the Capitol, Inaugural address: Biden crafts speech to unify a country in crisis. Below are some of the statistics for some common and not so common ways to die. There is one death that I can't get to work so it's unfortunately lost. First results When we first looked You can buy "How to Die in Space" on Amazon or Bookshop.org. Technology. 60-90 seconds: You die, Sizzled by cosmic rays and solar radiation, Sliced up by volcanic rock and buried in lava, Burnt or frozen, depending on where you land, Simultaneously crushed, burned, poisoned and shredded by extreme atmosphere. As cool as it is, I would hate to actually visit it, because there's a good chance I would die. Sutter: I think I managed to get everything in, even if something doesn't get its own chapter. Space.com: And that's in the last section of the book, the one about speculative threats. And then we get to the speculative threats. But we have a lot more still left to learn, and the universe is very much capable of surprising us. Of course, we have questions about everything, we haven't figured out everything about how the universe works, but we generally know what powers say, a solar flare or a supernova. Life on Earth can seem pretty hazardous, but if you ask astrophysicist Paul Sutter, it's still safer than anywhere else in the universe. Could you talk a bit about that section in general? A … Nonetheless, NASA has attempted to address the problem of storing bodies in space. Sutter, a frequent Space.com contributor, explores all the dangers the universe has on offer in his new book, "How to Die in Space: A Journey Through … 6. Sutter: I've written about wormholes, I've talked about wormholes before but one of the reasons I really enjoyed writing that chapter is, as I read paper after paper on wormholes stretching back, from the 1970s until the present day, I was amazed at how hard physicists have been working to try to get wormholes to work and how nature just won't let us and you can see the frustration in the history of the articles and it was fun to share that frustration. Dragon Ball Multiverse: Unfortunately invoked during Chapter 16. Radiation exposure is among the top health risks for Mars astronauts, but the Red Planet poses many other dangers as well. Space.com: What was your favorite topic to write about and why? Space.com: Are there any particularly fun tidbits you stumbled on while researching and writing the book? Latest. Sutter, a frequent Space.com contributor, explores all the dangers the universe has on offer in his new book, "How to Die in Space: A Journey Through Dangerous Astrophysical Phenomena" (Pegasus Books, 2020). The Dumb Ways to Die campaign not only involved the use of social media and the Internet to gain its spread, but also employed the use of print advertising – from posters featured in train stations, through to advertising in newspapers. Sutter: I hope readers have a lot of fun, I hope readers learn a lot about the universe, and I hope readers stay at home. Then there’s the psychological impact that such a morbid use of cabin space might have on the surviving astronauts. A point in space with so much gravity that not even light can escape? Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. This is more or less what will happen... 1 second: Begin freezing (if in shadow) or burning (if in sunlight) This is the fate of the guy who took his helmet off in outer space in Dumb Ways to Die. Death by Junk Pile. What happens to your body when you die in space? But as I was writing, as I was researching, I realized that, wow, this is all pretty high-energy stuff. Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. Turned out cooler than expected, in a gruesome way of course. But there are, in fact, a thousand ways to die in outer space… So, I encourage everyone to enjoy our universe from a very safe distance. Space.com: What do you hope readers take away from that section? All of the ways to die in Space Quest 5: The Next Mutation. Space. Sutter: I knew from the start that I wanted to take a kitchen-sink approach to this, where I wanted to touch on as many different topics as possible because it's an amazing universe out there and there's a lot going on. I am personally very excited for the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, which will launch one of these days, I guess, and will tell us a lot about the formation of stars and the formation of planets. Death in Space is a farcical look at the many ways the Universe can kill you ... in an animated compilation of two second scenes. The movie "Mission to Mars" has a scene that realistically demonstrates what would happen if an astronaut's space suit were to rapidly lose pressure and be exposed to outer space. Space.com: Are there any topics you considered including that didn't make the cut? So to protect astronauts, NASA has developed elaborate space suits. So at least there's some broad overview of everything. They died within seconds of the rupture, which occurred at 168 kilometers (104 miles), making them the only human beings to die in space. (Read an excerpt from "How to Die in Space.") Space.com: How did you decide which topics to include in the book? A place full of many ways to kill a man, a ship, a Vulcan and a planet. 45 seconds: Heart can no longer pump blood Like the vast reaches of space, the fate of an astronaut corpse is uncharted territory. Web Comics . There are a thousand ways to die in outer space, each one my mind can dream up more horrible than the previous thought, occasionally so twisted it'll make me question my sanity. About 1½ minutes. They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure, but it can get out of … So far, no individual has died of natural causes in space. It's all pretty nasty. If you are hit by a car, you might die from the physical damage to your brain, oxygen starvation as a result of bleeding, or even the toxicity of a subsequent bacterial infection. Or freezes. The Death: You know the scene (and you've probably cried through … Learn what your chances are for surviving an earthquake, a car accident or even a bee sting. 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