ATLANTA — There has never been a murder in space. But Detective Zach Kowalsk is conducting research to determine when, not if, the first microgravity murder will occur.
“Wherever humans go, human behavior changes,” said Kowalske, a crime scene investigator for the police department in Roswell, Georgia, a suburb north of Atlanta. “So being able to understand how to most effectively reproduce these criminal acts is critical.”
On Earth, the CSI tests the blood splatter to determine the location of the attacker relative to the victim. But Kowalsk was interested in how these calculations would change if you removed gravity from the equation.
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He collaborated with researchers at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, Staffordshire University, and the University of Hull in the United Kingdom to investigate sputter patterns produced in microgravity. They conducted their research aboard a parabolic aircraft. Parabolic aircraft are aircraft that repeatedly make controlled steep descents, creating a brief period of weightlessness in the cabin.
During these “zero gravity” periods, one of the researchers used a syringe to spray simulated blood onto a target inside a glove box similar to a pediatric incubator.
Without the downward pull of gravity, Kowalske and his colleagues knew that the simulated blood would follow a straight trajectory. But when it hit the target, the researchers were surprised to find a spatter pattern that was much smaller than what would be seen under normal gravity conditions.
Det. Zach Kowalsk holds a sample of simulated blood droplets. (Fox News)
“When you remove gravity, surface tension becomes the dominant factor,” Kowalske says. “So it actually inhibits the diffusion of that blood and makes the calculations inaccurate.”
The first murder in space would not only require new investigative procedures, but would also likely raise questions about who was in charge of the investigation.
“Jurisdiction would be difficult,” space lawyer Michelle Hanlon told Fox News in an email. “Space objects remain under the jurisdiction and control of the state that launched the object.”
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However, that could include the country that requested the launch, as well as the country that owns the territory or facilities where the launch took place.
“So if you have a modular space station operated by a Japanese company, and that module is manufactured in Germany and then launched by the United States, all of those countries could potentially claim jurisdiction.”・Mr. Hanlon, CEO of Moonkind, explained. A nonprofit space policy advocacy organization. “The next question, of course, is what happens if a crime occurs with an object created in space? Jurisdiction would be even more complicated!”
The Outer Space Treaty, the main international treaty governing space activities, holds nations responsible for damage caused by their nationals in space. Because of this, Hanlon predicts victims and their survivors will also want a say in who investigates.
While traveling aboard a “reduced gravity” aircraft, researchers sprayed simulated blood to recreate a crime scene in space. (Zach Kowalsk)
Becoming astronauts for government space agencies such as NASA remains highly selective, but the future growth of private “space tourism” risks less-specialized individuals causing mayhem on the final frontier. Detective Kowalske said. But his research could also be applied to accident reconstruction.
“Suppose there’s a ship in orbit and a catastrophe occurs,” Kowalske said. “We can use bloodstain patterns to reconstruct where the crew was and what position they were in during that catastrophic failure.”
Kowalske and his colleagues published their research in the academic journal Forensic Science International: Reports. For the suburban Georgia detective, it was part of his ongoing doctoral research and the culmination of what started as a “crazy idea.”
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“Research is great, right? Science is great,” Kowalske said. “You never know where asking a question will lead, but you can find out.”
