How We'll Die on Mars

Establishing a permanent human presence on the Red Planet will be risky, but researchers are finding solutions that will keep future residents alive Long enough to die peacefully. Here's how it could happen

- By Joe Pappalardo. Ilustrations by Jonathan Bartlett

Gathered in a common room, the mourners G say goodbye to the body of their pioneering geologist, dead from a brain aneurysm. The Mars base memorial service remembers a fellow colonist, but also celebrates a milestone for humanity: On June 23, 2034, she became the first person to die of natural causes on Mars.

After the service, while the mourners head to the public grove that serves as a graveless cemetery, a pair of technicians undress the body and move it to a room ringed with stainless-steel pods. These are tissue digesters. The techs transfer the body into an empty pod and seal the lid. Soon it fills with water spiked with potassium hydroxide, a caustic base. Then the pod is heated to 300° Fahrenheit and pressurized to 70 psi.

After about 12 hours of pressure-cooking alkaline hydrolysis, the pod drains with an automated whoosh, leaving only the bones. The broth is piped to the colony's anaerobic digester, where microorganisms break down biodegradable waste to produce methane gas that will fuel spacecraft and other vehicles. The remaining liquid becomes fertilizer along with the bones, which are heat-dried and crushed into a nitrogen- and mineral-rich powder. Nitrogen is a key component of chlorophyll, making this a valuable addition to the fertilizer used to grow Martian crops. Any remaining solids are transferred to compost bins to eventually form building materials like walls, deck planks, and particle boards. Every molecule is reused. There are no landfills on Mars.

Dying on Mars means living on Mars, and that our species has mastered the dangers the Red Planet poses. The hazards-the journey through space, treacherous landing, and brutal realities of life on an alien planet-are formidable. And the longer people stay on Mars, the greater the challenges grow.