[pscates]

Did that title get your attention?

Seriously, I've been wondering about this (and if it's already common knowledge, then forgive my cluelessness):

Do you think NASA supplies its astronauts with little tablets or pills they could take and quickly and painlessly end their lives if something really, really bad happened and they were faced with the prospect of not getting back to earth or if the ship was malfunctioning so badly that it would eventually come apart?

I'm not being gruesome or acting like SOME people on these boards. I'm genuinely curious.

For instance, if Armstrong and Aldrin's lunar lander failed to fire so they could back up and dock with Collins in the orbiting command module for the return to earth, what would've happened to them?

Of course, this is one of those things that - for obvious reasons - would never be admitted to or publicized (at least I wouldn't think so), but do any of you have any insight, opinions or info on this?

If you were an astronaut and were stuck out in space with a crippled ship and no way to return to earth, running out of air, food, etc. (or you were stranded on the moon, of all things!) do you think they have a little pack stowed away somewhere so the astronauts can save themselves any further fear or suffering?

Or does that go against everything astronauts and their kind are about?

I don't k now...I'm asking.

Could you imagine sitting there in your malfunctioning lunar lander on the moon, knowing that you're stuck there forever? Man, I couldn't imagine the horror and desperation I would feel.

[Millennium]

It's well-documented that NASA does this.

One of the astronauts commented that it wasn't really necessary, though. Why bother taking a cyanide capsule when you can just hit the cabin vent switch?

[pscates]

Is it really? I'd never heard of it, and I was always a space program nut. Huh. I guess that one got by me.

Oh well. Thanks for letting me know. I feel like the last one to know!

Feel free to lock this thread because I don't want to be responsible for starting some morbid, gruesome back-and-forth about suicide and such.

I got my answer.

[Millennium]

As it turns out, Nixon even had an alternate set of speeches prepared, just in case the Apollo astronauts became stranded on the moon. Lots of sappy stuff about being "forever enshrined" on the moon and stuff; nothing all that special.

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

You got this whole idea from the movie Contact right?

[KellyHogan]

Originally posted by pscates:
[QB]Did that title get your attention?

If you were an astronaut and were stuck out in space with a crippled ship and no way to return to earth, running out of air, food, etc. (or you were stranded on the moon, of all things!) do you think they have a little pack stowed away somewhere so the astronauts can save themselves any further fear or suffering?
QB]

Hitch a ride on a comet!

[pscates]

Originally posted by Immortal K-Mart Employee:
<STRONG>You got this whole idea from the movie Contact right?</STRONG>

No. Is that with Jodie Foster? I don't think I saw that one. Actually, I've wondered about this for quite a while. I WAS watching "Apollo 13" a few days ago and it probably triggered me asking it here, but it's something I've thought about forever.

[ort888]

Here is your answer...
http://www.twistedmojo.com/la.html

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Originally posted by pscates:
<STRONG>

No. Is that with Jodie Foster? I</STRONG>

Yup, and they talk about this very subject.

[DoctorGonzo]

One of the astronauts commented that it wasn't really necessary, though. Why bother taking a cyanide capsule when you can just hit the cabin vent switch?

Because dying via the open cabin vent is a pretty crappy way to go. You don't die right away and the effects you have to deal with in the meantime are absolutely horrible. That's not to say Cyanide is a good way to go, but that decompression is probably one of the worst.

[The Godfather]

If you decide you don't want to live no more and you are sharing a pressurized space station with other two astronauts, think of how much your body will stink after passing away. There's an airlock there; be corteous and use it.

[MikeM32]

While I don't like to confuse real fact with hollywood fact based stories, I think the suicide pill thing was mentionned in Apollo 13 and also the HBO Series "From the Earth to the Moon".

I also remember them mentionning it in the movie "Contact" but that's purely science fiction. Excellent movie though IMHO.

Mike

[jcarr]

Originally posted by DoctorGonzo:
<STRONG>That's not to say Cyanide is a good way to go, but that decompression is probably one of the worst.</STRONG>

Yeah, explosive decompresison would not be my first chioce either.

[finboy]

Originally posted by Millennium:
<STRONG>It's well-documented that NASA does this.

One of the astronauts commented that it wasn't really necessary, though. Why bother taking a cyanide capsule when you can just hit the cabin vent switch?</STRONG>

No, man, it's well-documented that NASA does NOT do this. I've heard conflicting reports for years, but I've seen interviews with at least 4 astronauts (including Lovell and Borman, Schirra and Scott, and probably others too) that say no. Deke Slayton's book says no, Gene Cernan's book says no, Mike Collins' book said no. The reasoning behind NOT doing it was simple: if they wanted to kill themselves, it was only a few switches away at any point in time anyway.

Besides, fighter-pilot types don't think in terms of suicide.

[finboy]

Originally posted by Millennium:
<STRONG>As it turns out, Nixon even had an alternate set of speeches prepared, just in case the Apollo astronauts became stranded on the moon. Lots of sappy stuff about being "forever enshrined" on the moon and stuff; nothing all that special.</STRONG>

That's a separate issue. And true.

[RAzaRazor]

Hmm, If you were stuck on the moon, in a spacesuit, wouldn't it be kind of hard to eat a cyanide pill? How would you get it in your mouth???

[finboy]

Originally posted by MikeM32:
<STRONG>While I don't like to confuse real fact with hollywood fact based stories, I think the suicide pill thing was mentionned in Apollo 13 and also the HBO Series "From the Earth to the Moon".

I also remember them mentionning it in the movie "Contact" but that's purely science fiction. Excellent movie though IMHO.

Mike</STRONG>

Dave Scott was tech advisor on "From the Earth to the Moon", but I don't remember it being mentioned. My DVDs are still packed, or I'd get it out and look.

[The Blue Meanie]

"This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I'm stepping through the door
And I'm floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today

For here
Am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do

Though I'm past one hundred thousand miles
I'm feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much she knows"

Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit's dead, there's something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you....

"Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do."

Pscates mate, it's been so long! How ya doin?

[finboy]

Upon further reflection, and based upon my limited memory of "From the Earth to the Moon" I think suicide pills WERE considered by the NASA brass, and perhaps even offered to the Apollo 8 crew (since they were the first to leave earth orbit). But I know some of the other guys have denied HAVING them. Only a politico like Jim Webb could think up something like that.