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by MrRage 4566 days ago
That made me wonder what the procedures are if one was to die on the ISS. You'd have to store the remains somewhere until the next Soyuz ship can launch? That's probably enough morbid thinking for today.
3 comments

They wouldn't wait, they'd preform an emergency re-entry on one of the Soyuz (there's normally two docked these days). Even if there was only one Soyuz the ISS can run automatically with the MCC controlling all functions for a while.
Knowing how NASA operates, it's very likely they have a detailed document outlining procedures.

I remember reading the Space Shuttle specification and there were contingencies for abort at various stages and if an incident happened what to do about it.

Contingencies for abort at various stages isn't all that unusual or interesting. Heck, I do that before I go fly my 600lb glider.

I don't doubt that they have contingencies for deaths on board, though. I'm sure everything has a plan. Sort of the space equivalent of the US military having plans to invade Canada and Mexico, except more likely to be needed.

It'd be a bit silly if they have to send a soyuz up to fetch the astronauts in case of an emergency. There's currently 2 soyuz capsuled docked to the station, they can leave on a pretty short notice, I'd imagine they'd do so in the event of a death.