In outer space without a spacesuit?

I found an interesting article about being in space without proper protection. It's a question which always intrigued me and there are some really compelling facts about the topic! Here you can find some answers what most likely will happen to you being in space without a spacesuit or any protection!!!

In scores of science fiction stories, hapless adventurers find themselves unwittingly introduced to the vacuum of space without proper protection. ... The ill-fated adventurers rapidly swell like over-inflated balloons, ultimately bursting in a gruesome spray of blood. As is true with many subjects, this representation in popular culture does not reflect the reality of exposure to outer space. Ever since humanity first began to probe outside of our protective atmosphere, a number of live organisms have been exposed to vacuum, both deliberately and otherwise. ... Scientists have a pretty clear idea of what would happen if an unprotected human slipped into the cold, airless void.

In the 1960s, as technology was bringing the prospect of manned spaceflight into reality, engineers recognized the importance of determining the amount of time astronauts would have to react to integrity breaches such as a damaged spacecraft or punctured space-suits. To that end, NASA constructed an assortment of large altitude chambers to mimic the hostile environments found at varying distances above the Earth, accounting for factors such as air pressure, temperature, and radiation. Adventurous volunteers were subjected to simulations of the conditions found several miles up, and a handful of animal tests were conducted with even lower pressures.

Using the data from these experiments and their knowledge of outer space, scientists were able to make some reasonable conclusions about how the human body would respond to sudden depressurization. A series of accidents over the years proved most of their extrapolations to be accurate. In 1965, in a space-suit test gone awry, a technician in an altitude chamber was exposed to a hard vacuum. The defective suit was unable to hold pressure, and the man collapsed after fourteen seconds. He regained consciousness shortly after the chamber was repressurized, and he was uninjured. In a later incident, another technician spent four minutes trapped at low pressure by a malfunctioning altitude chamber. He lost consciousness and began to turn blue, but escaped death when one of the managers kicked in one of the machine’s glass gauges, allowing air to seep into the chamber.

In 1971, three Russian cosmonauts aboard an early Soyuz spacecraft tragically experienced the vacuum of space first-hand, as described in the Almanac of Soviet Manned Space Flight:

“…the orbital module was normally separated by 12 pyrotechnic devices which were supposed to fire sequentially, but they incorrectly fired simultaneously, and this caused a ball joint in the capsule’s pressure equalization valve to unseat, allowing air to escape. The valve normally opens at low altitude to equalize cabin air pressure to the outside air pressure. This caused the cabin to lose all its atmosphere in about 30 seconds while still at a height of 168 km. In seconds, Patsayev realized the problem and unstrapped from his seat to try and cover the valve inlet and shut off the valve but there was little time left. It would take 60 seconds to shut off the valve manually and Patsayev managed to half close it before passing out. Dobrovolsky and Volkov were virtually powerless to help since they were strapped in their seats, with little room to move in the small capsule and no real way to assist Patsayev. The men died shortly after passing out. [...] The rest of the descent was normal and the capsule landed at 2:17 AM. The recovery forces located the capsule and opened the hatch only to find the cosmonauts motionless in their seats. On first glance they appeared to be asleep, but closer examination showed why there was no normal communication from the capsule during descent.”

When the human body is suddenly exposed to the vacuum of space, a number of injuries begin to occur immediately. Though they are relatively minor at first, they accumulate rapidly into a life-threatening combination. The first effect is the expansion of gases within the lungs and digestive tract due to the reduction of external pressure. A victim of explosive decompression greatly increases their chances of survival simply by exhaling within the first few seconds, otherwise death is likely to occur once the lungs rupture and spill bubbles of air into the circulatory system. Such a life-saving exhalation might be due to a shout of surprise, though it would naturally go unheard where there is no air to carry it.

In the absence of atmospheric pressure water will spontaneously convert into vapor, which would cause the moisture in a victim’s mouth and eyes to quickly boil away. The same effect would cause water in the muscles and soft tissues of the body to evaporate, prompting some parts of the body to swell to twice their usual size after a few moments. This bloating may result in some superficial bruising due to broken capillaries, but it would not be sufficient to break the skin.

Within seconds the reduced pressure would cause the nitrogen which is dissolved in the blood to form gaseous bubbles, a painful condition known to divers as “the bends.” Direct exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation would also cause a severe sunburn to any unprotected skin. Heat does not transfer out of the body very rapidly in the absence of a medium such as air or water, so freezing to death is not an immediate risk in outer space despite the extreme cold.

Here it gets really interesting!!!

For about ten full seconds– a long time to be loitering in space without protection– an average human would be rather uncomfortable, but they would still have their wits about them. Depending on the nature of the decompression, this may give a victim sufficient time to take measures to save their own life. But this period of “useful consciousness” would wane as the effects of brain asphyxiation begin to set in. In the absence of air pressure the gas exchange of the lungs works in reverse, dumping oxygen out of the blood and accelerating the oxygen-starved state known as hypoxia. After about ten seconds a victim will experience loss of vision and impaired judgement, and the cooling effect of evaporation will lower the temperature in the victim’s mouth and nose to near-freezing. Unconsciousness and convulsions would follow several seconds later, and a blue discoloration of the skin called cyanosis would become evident.

At this point the victim would be floating in a blue, bloated, unresponsive stupor, but their brain would remain undamaged and their heart would continue to beat. If pressurized oxygen is administered within about one and a half minutes, a person in such a state is likely make a complete recovery with only minor injuries, though the hypoxia-induced blindness may not pass for some time. Without intervention in those first ninety seconds, the blood pressure would fall sufficiently that the blood itself would begin to boil, and the heart would stop beating. There are no recorded instances of successful resuscitation beyond that threshold.

Isn't it strange how the average human can "experience" about 10 secs in space with full consciousness?? Just imagine being outside a spacecraft without a spacesuitt :O


Link

reply to post by Dalbeck


Isn't that 10 second number the same as if you are beheaded? Blood still inside your brain allows for brain activity for a few seconds, allowing your severed head to still be potentially conscious.

Scarey.

As for space, I'm not sure but I feel that having your blood instantly boil wouldn't be very fun at all.

reply to post by Dalbeck

Isn't it strange how the average human can "experience" about 10 secs in space with full consciousness??

Survive the vacuum for a short time maybe, but not the difference in temperature I think.

"Isn't it strange how the average human can "experience" about 10 secs in space with full consciousness?? Just imagine being outside a spacecraft without a spacesuitt :O"


No thats not strange at all , that seems about just enough time to taste the agony. Like any other death .

I thought you were going to link to some new nano tech space suits that inject nano pressure stabilzers in the blood that allows for at least 10 min in space without a suit...

but 10 seconds??!


i want my bandwidth back plz.

reply to post by Dalbeck

Isn't it strange how the average human can "experience" about 10 secs in space with full consciousness?? Just imagine being outside a spacecraft without a spacesuitt :O

Indeed it is. What is fascinating though, is that it would probably be worth it, considering the current conditions here on earth.

I'd put money on it that they've put a live animal into space and recorded What happened, maybe even a creature as big as a monkey.

They wouldn't tell you one way or another.

reply to post by Dalbeck


This is the part that puzzles me.

In the absence of atmospheric pressure water will spontaneously convert into vapor, which would cause the moisture in a victim’s mouth and eyes to quickly boil away.

So why are we searching for water on other planets then if it "spontaneously convert into vapor".
Does the moon have enough atmospheric pressure for water not to vaporize? What about Mars, does it have an atmosphere with enough pressure?

reply to post by Dalbeck

Just imagine being outside a spacecraft without a spacesuitt :O

I've thought about a lot of freaky things before, but I think floating in open space without a spacesuit takes the cake. Especially if you were looking down at Earth with the realization you would never be going back. Space is so different to our natural environment, if the atmosphere suddenly disappeared we would all be screwed hard.

Originally posted by Dalbeck
and a handful of animal tests were conducted with even lower pressures.

can't they use pedo's, rapists etc or themselves sadistic scum bags

The water bear can survive in space for a very long time its the earths toughest organism.

They were shown to survive for 10 days in space.

en.wikipedia.org...

i always pondered the truth.thankyou for the accurate scientific proof.i thought it was an excellent report.flag for you.good job!

Originally posted by Burgo1010

Originally posted by Dalbeck
and a handful of animal tests were conducted with even lower pressures.

can't they use pedo's, rapists etc or themselves sadistic scum bags

It´s always funny when a poster is oblivious to the irony of his comment.

Originally posted by Wolvo
I'd put money on it that they've put a live animal into space and recorded What happened, maybe even a creature as big as a monkey.

Yep. I thought about it as well. I'm sure several of the SCIENTIFIC experiments conducted by several countries in space consisted of just that. Probably tether a Rat or Monkey and let them out in the open during one of the space walks and record the observations and data from the attached sensors. Who the heck knows but Definitely it is plausible.

Originally posted by CaptainInstaban
Survive the vacuum for a short time maybe, but not the difference in temperature I think.

What difference in temperature? In a vacuum, what is going to carry heat away from your body?

I've been decompressed. Not hard vacuum, but enough for hypoxia. It's pretty fun if you know you're not going to die. Stomach gases can get kind of painful, but nature provides a way out.

reply to post by CaptainInstaban


Temperature extreme is not a concern due to the lack of a carrier, (air, water), explained in the article.

Severed head believed to be a fallacy through gruesome experiments. Nerve activity with no consciousness. Behead a chicken and watch the headless carcass run around for a while, it's nerve reflex memory, (there is a term for that). I witnessed this very thing when I was a kid, some true hillbillies moved into our neighborhood.

What difference in temperature? In a vacuum, what is going to carry heat away from your body?

reply to post by FurvusRexCaeli


Jeah, mised that part of the article, however there is obviously difference in temperature, and the article states,

Heat does not transfer out of the body very rapidly in the absence of a medium such as air or water, so freezing to death is not an immediate risk in outer space despite the extreme cold.

Heat is carried away from your body in space, but apperently not as fast as I thought, yes it is a vacuum, but it is also extremely cold.

Mmm, is that actually right, what is cold in the vacuum, now that I think about it?

Originally posted by CaptainInstaban

Originally posted by Burgo1010

Originally posted by Dalbeck
and a handful of animal tests were conducted with even lower pressures.

can't they use pedo's, rapists etc or themselves sadistic scum bags

It´s always funny when a poster is oblivious to the irony of his comment.

My point is that it is unethical to use innocent creatures to further human lust for already known knowledge, Yes it is sadistic of my comment, irony seen ... I guess some folk here like to protect guilty over innocent ...

Originally posted by phishyblankwaters
reply to post by Dalbeck

 

Isn't that 10 second number the same as if you are beheaded? Blood still inside your brain allows for brain activity for a few seconds, allowing your severed head to still be potentially conscious.

Most estimates are higher than 10 sec, I read somewhere it's more like 40 or sometimes longer.

Just an aside comment -- you can hold you breath for a lot longer and not pass out. However, holding your breath in vacuum will kill you quickly (as the OP correctly stated) as the lungs would burst. They teach you that in scuba diving class -- you are tempted to hold you breath at times, when you underwater in full scuba gear, but holding your breath can easily be deadly.

reply to post by Burgo1010


Lol, I´ll give you a hint.

As long as they are pedos and rapists, or scientists who use animals for testing , you don´t find it sadistic to use human beings in harmful experiments?

Originally posted by CaptainInstaban
reply to post by Burgo1010

 

Lol, I´ll give you a hint.

As long as they are pedos and rapists, or scientists who use animals for testing , you don´t find it sadistic to use human beings in harmful experiments?

The truth is I do, sadly I get pissed and react before I think ... I'm 100% against Animal Testing and Research for the betterment of humans ... Heal Thyself Physician I believe was the quote ...