oyster@uwmacc.UUCP (Vicious Oyster) (12/12/85)
In article <155@birtch.UUCP> oleg@birtch.UUCP (Oleg Kiselev) writes: >Don't remember where, but I have encountered a scene where people were being >rescued from a section of a space station. People had to jump through the >vacuum into the airlock of the rescue craft. The effects on the body were >a nasty suntan of the exposed surfaces, frost bite and that's about it.... > Yeah? Well, I saw "Outland" *twice*, and *both times* the people's faces exploded, so that proves it. Or is there a reason it's called Science FICTION? - Joel ({allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster)
davet@randvax.UUCP (Dave Truesdell) (12/17/85)
> Arthur Clarke apparently anticipated the furor this might cause and wrote an > essay to show that humans COULD in fact survive in vacuum for limited periods. > He based his arguments on research done by NASA and the US Air Force during the > 1960s. The research featured experiments on dogs and monkeys at very low > pressures; some of the animals were able to survive for several minutes at > near vacuum. The essay was published in his 'View from Serendip,' but I can't > remember the title of the article. > > If someone could find the article, maybe this dispute can be (almost) settled > for a while. The article is titled "A Breath of Fresh Vacuum". The experiments Clark mentions, involved decompressing chimpanzees and dogs to pressures of less than 2 mm. The chimpanzees surviving up to two and a half minutes. The references given are: "The effect on the Chimpanzee of Rapid Decompression to a Near Vacuum." Edited by Alfred G. Koestler, NASA CR-329 (November 1965) and "Experimental Animal Decompressions to a Near Vacuum Environment." R. W. Bancroft & J. E. Dunn, Report No. SAM-TR-65-48 (June 1965) USAF School of Aerospace Medicine, Brooks AFB, Texas. -- Any opinions expressed, are my own, and not those of my employer. David A. Truesdell ARPAnet: davet%tp4@rand-unix UUCP/usenet: {hermix,hollywood,litvax,trwrb,ttidca,vortex}!randvax!davet
hankb@teklds.UUCP (Hank Buurman) (12/18/85)
In article <456@oliven.UUCP> barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) writes: > >swelling; the skin would probably come loose, s-he'd no doubt suffer >from the bends (though s-he wouldn't live long enough to make any >difference), if his/her mouth was open his/her lungs would probably >collapse -- if s-he held his/her breath, the lungs would probably C'mon. Is it really necessary to fracture the language this atrociously to demonstrate your non-bias to gender; and in net.sf-lovers? Whew! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ "Variables won't, constants aren't." ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hank Buurman Tektronix Inc. ihnp4!tektronix!dadlac!hankb
cs3551as@unmg.UUCP (12/18/85)
There has been a question of whether humans explode when subjected to vacuum. Experience with Scuba Diving (I know slightly unrelated) indicates that holding ones breath would indeed cause an explosion. Releasing breath would probably only result in a case of the bends, and in vacuum suffocation in short order. It might be hard to react quickly enough to explosive decompression. JM7
barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) (12/19/85)
>Charlie Martin: > People make rapid ascents of 33 feet in water every day: > SCUBA divers do it all the time. If they have not been > down long enough to get a lot of extra dissolved N_2, they > don't even particularly notice, much less explode. *IF* they exhale continuously. If holding their breath, their bodies, admittedly, would not explode, but their lungs would be hash. And there's also a risk of blowing out the eardrums in rapid ascent/decompression -- I've felt that warning pain, myself. (By the way, *I* *do* particularly notice the pressure change of 33 ft to surface -- more so going rapidly the other way.) Barb
crm@duke.UUCP (Charlie Martin) (12/19/85)
In article <466@oliven.UUCP> barb@oliven.UUCP (Barbara Jernigan) writes: >>Charlie Martin: >> People make rapid ascents of 33 feet in water every day: >> SCUBA divers do it all the time. If they have not been >> down long enough to get a lot of extra dissolved N_2, they >> don't even particularly notice, much less explode. > >*IF* they exhale continuously. If holding their breath, their bodies, >admittedly, would not explode, but their lungs would be hash. And there's >also a risk of blowing out the eardrums in rapid ascent/decompression -- I've >felt that warning pain, myself. (By the way, *I* *do* particularly notice the >pressure change of 33 ft to surface -- more so going rapidly the other way.) > >Barb Right -- read down a couple of paragraphs and you'll see that I refer to exhalation. And, yes, your ears can hurt and you can even lose an eardrum, which is nothing pleasant. But nobody explodes. -- Charlie Martin (...mcnc!duke!crm)