vince@fluke.UUCP (Craig V. Johnson) (09/04/84)
Something stikes me very strange about the waste water vents on the Discovery being blocked by ice. How is it possible for ice to exist (for any length of time) in a vacume? I have not consulted my Thermodynamics book for the specifics, but as I recall, water should immediately vaporize in a vacume. Even if it did collect into a mass of ice, I should think that sublimation would cause it to disappear in short order. What's going on here? Are we getting the straight poop? Craig Johnson John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. {uw-beaver,decvax!microsof,ucbvax!lbl-csam,allegra,ssc-vax}!fluke!vince
henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) (09/17/84)
When water hits vacuum, it sort of boils and freezes simultaneously. My impression is that the vaporization of some of it cools the rest sharply enough to freeze it. The ice will eventually sublime into the vacuum, but this doesn't necessarily happen instantly. -- Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology {allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry