Felix Killed Him
Had Felix not hit him on the hand with the hammer he wouldn't have started rapidly aging.
shareActually he would have. It was made clear that rapid aging would occur if you were frozen for a long time. Basically, you would rapid age until you reach the age you are suppose to be and then it evens out.
sharethat was one of the worst plot devices ever, makes no sense, and its CREEPY, its a good thing it was tested on that guy because imagine if you sent astronauts to another star system and froze them for a hundred years then after a few weeks on the new planet all the astronauts suddenly start aging and it would be fatal they would all age to death.
If you froze a child would they physically grow up before the aging or would it be like progeria?
Plus it was A VERY SAD ending, maybe he martyred himself to save the lives of all those astronauts who would have died from an interstellar journey but he missed out on all those years he went from being young to being elderly almost instantly and that final scene was totally contrived, 53 years had gone by and he says "will you marry me?". She has had an entire life and for all he knows she is married to someone else or has been. The whole thing is just sad.