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Comment by wazoox | Hacker News Reader

I find quite absurd the concept of bringing back home the explorer's dead body. Seamen traditionally are buried at sea, it seems quite obvious that the right thing to do for a space explorer is to be made a permanent asteroid.

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Rationally it doesn't make a difference, but if buried at sea, your body can be absorbed by earth and become part of the next cycle of life.

Had it been me, I'd prefer to be shot into space. In a zillion years, there's a miniscule chance to be discovered by another species. In the at least, I'll eventually turn into stardust and become part of another cycle of magnificient mystery in the universe.

Isn't that thought more tantalizing than being buried on Earth?

Not sure, is there actually a cycle in the universe (don't know what the latest theory is).? I suppose if a body in space becomes stardust eventually, so will the whole earth. So either way you end up as stardust.

All the planets and stars that you see in the sky (and earth) where made from spacedust. So yes you would be part of the cycle of the universe, possibly even creating new life :)

Who knows, perhaps we were created from some dead aliens shot into space.

I think that actually happens in one of the sequels to 2001, but my memory is fuzzy about it.

The problem then is that, while a dead seamen doesn't pose a threat to the ship, in the case of a dead astronaut, you must be sure the body's trajectory won't intersect your own at any significant speed.

It cannot intersect your own at significant speed, unless you expend significant energy to diverge your trajectory. Otherwise it simply continues to accompany you at some slightly varying distance.

Makes looking out the window slightly disturbing.

Unless the body passes by a big mass and gets accelerated in your direction. The last thing you need for the morale of the crew is to have your fellow shipmate splattered on your windshield.

The odds are low, but it's worth the care.

Space is really, really, really big.

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