Space cannibals: professor predicts gruesome reality of Mars colonization

An emergency that may well occur during a long journey to Mars or during the first steps to colonize the red planet may make future settlers face difficult moral choices, for which no special program will likely prepare them. Some may even have to sacrifice their lives for the sake of others.

The moral dilemma is described in the book Survival and Sacrifice in Mars Exploration, published in 2015 by Dr. Erik Seedhouse, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, USA. According to Futurism, the controversial work of the scientist was drawn to the attention of researchers and authors of the book "A City on Mars: Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?" Kelly and Zach Weinersmith.

During their research, they tried to find those aspects of the future colonization of Mars that for some reason have been completely forgotten by those who believe that the main obstacle between humans and the red planet is a rocket that is not quite ready to take us there. OBOZ.UA has already talked about some of the "lost" aspects of colonization here.

The Weinersmiths note that tragic deaths among space travelers have always been rapid and claimed entire crews. Therefore, there has never been a situation "when several astronauts gather around a deceased comrade to think about how best to bury him."

There are also no international acts that would regulate the death of astronauts. There is UN international space law, but when it comes to death, there is only a mention that a corpse floating in space would technically be considered a satellite.

There are also some references to the "law of the sea" of the space age, which justifies killing for survival. However, Seedhouse went even further in his book, comparing the challenges that the participants of the first mission to Mars might face to those of the nineteenth-century polar expeditions.

"Imagine you are stuck on the Red Planet with three crew members. You have a lot of life support supplies. Still, food is enough for one person only until the rescue team arrives. What will you do?" the professor asks rhetorically.

In his opinion, one day one of the astronauts will simply realize that they are living on the base with "three pieces of meat filled with protein."

Seedhouse believes that astronauts do not need to kill their colleagues: one of them must sacrifice himself. In his opinion, the strongest and largest of them should be the first victims as they "consume and will give the most food".

Earlier, OBOZ.UA explained what will happen to a person who dies during a flight to Mars.

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