Yes, it is expensive, as your freezer has to be set at temperatures below -80°C/-112°F, down to -196°C/-321°F, and maintained this way for decades without single interruption.
This requires expensive equipment and draws insane amounts of power, and also necessitates multiple power backups.
TIL things still get hot in space under direct sunlight. I always assumed space would be cold even in sunlight but apparently not.
anyway, I would think you could still be in a sunlit orbit as long as you had a reflective shield for shading. You’ll probably still need power to maintain temps and monitor status, so solar energy would still be helpful.
Fun fact! During the Apollo flights to and from the Moon, the spacecraft would perform “Passive Thermal Control” or “barbecue roll” where it would rotate around its long axis about once per hour, to distribute the thermal load from the sun and keep one side from heating up too much
Yes, it is expensive, as your freezer has to be set at temperatures below -80°C/-112°F, down to -196°C/-321°F, and maintained this way for decades without single interruption.
This requires expensive equipment and draws insane amounts of power, and also necessitates multiple power backups.
There is currently no way to do it on a budget.
Launch the capsule into space in an orbit around earth that’s always obscure from the sun?
Not a “budget” option but definitely a hell lot cheaper in the long run (decades, or even centuries).
Even better, just incinerate the them and tell them they’ll be floating in space!
Is there such an orbit? That should be an orbit with a period of 1 year, which is far outside Earth’s sphere of gravitational influence.
Yup! Larange point 2, where we parked the JWST!
You could just attach their frozen heads to the dark side of the Webb telescope if they can afford it!
Imagine an operation to retrieve those heads
That sounds like a job for future-people!
if we’re at the point that we can revive a frozen corpse, I think we can easily retrieve a floating capsule orbiting earth.
TIL things still get hot in space under direct sunlight. I always assumed space would be cold even in sunlight but apparently not.
anyway, I would think you could still be in a sunlit orbit as long as you had a reflective shield for shading. You’ll probably still need power to maintain temps and monitor status, so solar energy would still be helpful.
Fun fact! During the Apollo flights to and from the Moon, the spacecraft would perform “Passive Thermal Control” or “barbecue roll” where it would rotate around its long axis about once per hour, to distribute the thermal load from the sun and keep one side from heating up too much
If you read the article that explains it this is incorrect. Once it’s set up it requires no power, only liquid nitrogen. So it’s black out proof too.
You’re not ‘frozen’ you’re ‘vitrified’, the main difference being your cells don’t get damaged (as much)
Also there is currently a way to do it on a budget, see aforementioned article.
(basically you can do it with a life insurance plan of around 40 a month if you’re reasonably young).