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Space Forum / Space Flight / August 2006space without a suit
I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will essentially explode due to lack of pressure. Out of curiosity, is this true? Thank you. > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? Check out the scene in 2001 when the astronaut Dave moves from the pod to the spacecraft without his helmet. I have been told that this scene is pretty accurate, except that Dave probably would not have wanted to take a deep breath before making the transfer. Rather than exploding, it is more likely your skin would start to boil. With the low pressure, the water in your skin would start to vaporize. -john-  Signature====================================================================== John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com ====================================================================== > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? No. --Z Signature"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..." * If the Bush administration hasn't shipped you to Syria for interrogation, it's for one reason: they don't feel like it. Not because you're innocent. I though this as well. It turns out this is wrong. If you google these groups you will find a lot of info. Also the NASA web site has a FAQ somewhere that includes this question. Greg > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? > > Thank you. >I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? No. You'd die pretty quickly, and you might bloat a bit, but you would remain essentially intact. Check out: http://www.sff.net/people/Geoffrey.Landis/vacuum.html dgd > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? No. Search the archives for details; it's been discussed many times. Best, - Joe As far as I am aware, the vaccuum of space has one atom per cubic metre so your body would be frozen fairly quickly in -268 degree Celsius void of space... but I cannot confirm this fact off the top of my head. I also suspect that exposed skin would be fried by the solar radiation and winds that the ozone layer currently protects us from feeling on a daily basis. I believe the "explosion" you are referring to would be what happens in theory as the gases expand in our blood vessels, although whether a person would "blow up" or freeze into a solid object of ice to be captured by a gravitaional body and serve as a human popsicle satellite for eternity remains a question I do not know the answer to. I therefore offer my uneducated opinion that a man without a space suit would asphyxiate rather quickly without oxygen, the gases in the body would produce tremendous pain as they try to escape from the body without atmospheric pressure, and the exposed flesh would simultaneously turn dark from solar winds whilst becoming solidified as our atoms and molecules slow down and stop moving for eternity. Not all that pleasant I would imagine. > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? > > Thank you. > As far as I am aware, the vaccuum of space has one atom per cubic metre > so > your body would be frozen fairly quickly in -268 degree Celsius void of > space... but I cannot confirm this fact off the top of my head. I also > suspect that exposed skin would be fried by the solar radiation and winds > that the ozone layer currently protects us from feeling on a daily basis. Cold is a relative thing. There is nothing to conduct the heat so the only way to loose heat is through radiation. It's more like a thermos really. Vacuum is a excellent insulator. In spacecraft the real challenge is to loose heat. Not a problem. Solar radiation is not a problem. By the time it takes effect you would be long dead. It's not that different from radiation sickness. It takes hours to take effect. More like a sunburn except that it penetrates the entire body not just the skin. If you don't breathe out your lungs can burst. Now that's painful. Also you eardrums might burst. Also vessels in you nose might burst. Apart that the loss of pressure gives you the worst case of the bends ever. Judging from experience with divers it should take about 3 minutes to take effect. By then you should already start loosing consciousness from asphyxiation. This is what would probably kill you. So if they can get you inside within 3 minutes you should have a chance. SignatureUsing Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/ > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. http://www.sff.net/people/Geoffrey.Landis/vacuum.html There have been several examples of vacuum exposure. The answer is: no, you won't explode, but you will die. From examination of diving decompression injuries, you might rupture your lungs, but the damage would be internal (comparable to a badly done emergency surfacing from 30ft to the surface, a 1-bar pressure change.) Mike Miller > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? > > Thank you. Depends on how fast the leak in your suit is. SignatureLinux is just a fancy name for Windows blocker. Claude Hopper > I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? No. Jan >I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will > essentially explode due to lack of pressure. > > Out of curiosity, is this true? The people who told you that know it's true because they saw it in a movie. But in truth, no, you wouldn't explode. One would have about 15 seconds of consciousness. Then in about 60 seconds one would be dead. But one wouldn't explode. Arthur C. Clarke got so tired of this misconception that he saw to it "2001" included a scene of an astronaut briefly exposed to vacuum. But many movies made well after "2001" continued to portray this inaccurately. SignatureRegards, Mike Combs ---------------------------------------------------------------------- By all that you hold dear on this good Earth I bid you stand, Men of the West! Aragorn >>I was told that if you venture into space without a suit, you will >>essentially explode due to lack of pressure. >> >>Out of curiosity, is this true? > > The people who told you that know it's true because they saw it in a movie. Actually, if you hold your breath while decompressing to vacuum, your lungs may just explode (or do something very similar). But agreed, your whole body won't go *pop* like in the movies ;) . SignatureDavid First, you would start losing water - because at 63,000 feet pressure altitude water boils at about 98.6F, hence people have to wear pressure suits to prevent that from happening. Actually because of the reduced efficiency of the oxygen-CO2 exchange in the lungs the USAF mandates pressure suits be worn for flight above 50,000. Pressure breathing - higher pressure oxygen rammed into you via a tight-fitting mask does work up to aboput 55,000 but it's dangerous as it hikes your blood pressure. It's also damn unconfortable and you have to forcibly exhale after each breath. Second, with additional oxygen you will pass out in about 9 seconds above about 45000 equivalent ambient pressure because the blood coming from the lungs to the brain will have insufficent oxygen available.Since the brain cannot store oxygen, out you go. It's been filmed many a time in altitude chambers and every high-altitude pilot gets to watch one of these films every three years or so. BTW I used to teach this along with supervising (and doing) pressure suit flight in the USAF. As for holding your breath - as little as 4 1/2 psi overpressure in your lungs can rupture them. I know of a case where a novice diver surfaced from around 10 feet down still holding a breath of air from his tank - killed him. Okinawa, around 1955. Walt BJ |
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