Can you be in the open space naked?

[judasmachine]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
http://www.sff.net/people/geof...landis/vacuum_jsc.html

what an ugly but interesting read.

 

[ryan256]

Originally posted by: Eli

At NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now renamed Johnson Space Center) we had a test subject accidentally exposed to a near vacuum (less than 1 psi) in an incident involving a leaking space suit in a vacuum chamber back in '65. He remained concious for about 14 seconds, which is about the time it takes for O2 deprived blood to go from the lungs to the brain. The suit probably did not reach a hard vacuum, and we began repressurizing the chamber within 15 seconds. The subject regained conciousness at around 15,000 feet equivalent altitude. The subject later reported that he could feel and hear the air leaking out, and his last conscious memory was of the water on his tongue beginning to boil."

😕

Is body temperature enough to boil water in a near complete vacuum? :Q Interesting.

I would say so. Think about it. How do you produce liquid helium? No freezer in the world is capable of getting that cold. So you pressurize the hell out of it. The extreme high pressure will force the helium into a liquid state thereby dropping the temperature drastically. So why couldn't this work in reverse?
Drop the pressure and the water is forced into a gas state. Instantly raises the temperature and boils.

 

[miketheidiot]

you would die a fairly quick and relatively unpleasant death.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: ryan256

Originally posted by: Eli

At NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now renamed Johnson Space Center) we had a test subject accidentally exposed to a near vacuum (less than 1 psi) in an incident involving a leaking space suit in a vacuum chamber back in '65. He remained concious for about 14 seconds, which is about the time it takes for O2 deprived blood to go from the lungs to the brain. The suit probably did not reach a hard vacuum, and we began repressurizing the chamber within 15 seconds. The subject regained conciousness at around 15,000 feet equivalent altitude. The subject later reported that he could feel and hear the air leaking out, and his last conscious memory was of the water on his tongue beginning to boil."

😕

Is body temperature enough to boil water in a near complete vacuum? :Q Interesting.

I would say so. Think about it. How do you produce liquid helium? No freezer in the world is capable of getting that cold. So you pressurize the hell out of it. The extreme high pressure will force the helium into a liquid state thereby dropping the temperature drastically. So why couldn't this work in reverse?
Drop the pressure and the water is forced into a gas state. Instantly raises the temperature and boils.

Yeah, I know. Just never thought about it before I guess.

 

[slag]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
I can't think of anything else that'd immediately injure you...

Let's say you're at the outersphere of Earth, just outside the atmosphere in open space. I know the sun is super blinding and you need air...

So if you have an oxygen tank + NASA-approved shades = you're all set right?

Just thinking it'd be cool to be in an open space naked.

Dude, do you realize how cold it is in space? Not to mention that it's a complete vacuum.

You'd die almost instantly.

WRONG.

Duh.. dude, why do you think it would be cold? Its CLOSER to the sun, hence, its HOTTER than down on earth.
Also, another reason you know its hotter. Rockets that go into space use liquid oxygen to COOL the engines. If it were cold in space, they wouldn't need liquid oxygen, they would need HEATERS to keep everything warm so it wouldn't freeze up.

Come on folks, use your noggin once in awhile.

🙂

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: jandrews
your penis being sucked out backwards from the hole.

:shocked:

 

[Schfifty Five]

Originally posted by: m1ldslide1

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
Lots of misinformation in this thread...

You would not explode. Your eyes and ears would be the most susceptible to damage and would need to be shut/covered. Space isn't "cold" like people are saying. It is nothing. In order for your body to feel cold, you need to be losing heat. Most of our heat loss is done through exposure to air which has less kinetic energy than our skin cells, thus transferring heat out of our body. In space, there are no particles at all, so this type of heat loss is essentially non-existant. You have to radiate it which is much less efficient for a human, meaning you would not die instantly from an extremely "cold" enviornment since that isn't what it is.

Simply because we are acclimated and built for the pressure on earth doesn't mean we would explode or compress into nothing in a different atmosphere. Space shuttles are pressurized and don't explode because of the metal container, but this is exactly how our skin would function. The weak spots would be eyes and ears, but this could be mitigated if all air in the lungs was exhaled immediately. You should be able to live for 20-25 seconds with nothing other than your skin and a will to survive.

I think this was in a movie, but I can't remember which one. Maybe Event Horizon or something where a guy had to jump from one airlock in a space station to another. He exhaled all his air, covered his eyes, and went for it. His veins started to pop out and he almost went CGI but got to the other airlock in time.

Sunshine had this.

There was also another movie with Tim Robbins..i think it was Mission to Mars where he was in outer space and he opened his mask up and he instantly be frozen.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
I can't think of anything else that'd immediately injure you...

Let's say you're at the outersphere of Earth, just outside the atmosphere in open space. I know the sun is super blinding and you need air...

So if you have an oxygen tank + NASA-approved shades = you're all set right?

Just thinking it'd be cool to be in an open space naked.

 

[FoBoT]

sounds like we need mythbusters to tackle this after jan 30 when they prove the airplane takes off

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
I can't think of anything else that'd immediately injure you...

Let's say you're at the outersphere of Earth, just outside the atmosphere in open space. I know the sun is super blinding and you need air...

So if you have an oxygen tank + NASA-approved shades = you're all set right?

Just thinking it'd be cool to be in an open space naked.

1. Put some marshmallows in a jar.

2. Remove all of the air from the jar using a vacuum sealer.

3. Envision what happens to the marshmallows happening to a human body, which is not quite malleable as a marshmallow.

Not even close to the same. More like try putting an apple in a jar and using a vacuum sealer. Nothing happens.

And I thought liquid oxygen was an oxidizer as propellant, not as cooling 😕

 

[AnitaPeterson]

So... nobody in this thread (so far) has seen "2001: A Space Odyssey" ? Sad...

 

[TXHokie]

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
So... nobody in this thread (so far) has seen "2001: A Space Odyssey" ? Sad...

Looks like that is the most feasible outcome - Text

 

[FoBoT]

Originally posted by: TXHokie

Looks like that is the most feasible outcome - Text

awesome link TXHokie

If decompression takes 1/2 second or longer, even lung tissue remains intact. When the ambient pressure falls below 47 mm of mercury (similar to the pressure at the surface of Mars), the water inside all tissues passes into a vapor state beginning at the skin surface. This causes the collapse of surface cells and the loss of huge amounts of body heat via evaporation. After six seconds, the process of cell collapse involves the heart and lungs causing circulatory interruption, followed by acute anoxia, convulsions and the relaxation of the bowel muscles. After 15 seconds, mental confusion sets-in, and after 20 seconds you become unconscious. You can survive this for about 80 seconds if a pressure higher than about 47 mm mercury is then reestablished, otherwise, you turn into freeze-dried dead meat on a stick.

 

[mrSHEiK124]

And with the new year, comes a new airplane......a new treadmill. ATOT Presents: NAKED HUMAN IN OUTER SPACE.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Originally posted by: Eli

At NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center (now renamed Johnson Space Center) we had a test subject accidentally exposed to a near vacuum (less than 1 psi) in an incident involving a leaking space suit in a vacuum chamber back in '65. He remained concious for about 14 seconds, which is about the time it takes for O2 deprived blood to go from the lungs to the brain. The suit probably did not reach a hard vacuum, and we began repressurizing the chamber within 15 seconds. The subject regained conciousness at around 15,000 feet equivalent altitude. The subject later reported that he could feel and hear the air leaking out, and his last conscious memory was of the water on his tongue beginning to boil."

😕

Is body temperature enough to boil water in a near complete vacuum? :Q Interesting.

I think water boils at room temp at about 10 torr/mm Hg, roughly.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: slag

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
I can't think of anything else that'd immediately injure you...

Let's say you're at the outersphere of Earth, just outside the atmosphere in open space. I know the sun is super blinding and you need air...

So if you have an oxygen tank + NASA-approved shades = you're all set right?

Just thinking it'd be cool to be in an open space naked.

Dude, do you realize how cold it is in space? Not to mention that it's a complete vacuum.

You'd die almost instantly.

WRONG.

Duh.. dude, why do you think it would be cold? Its CLOSER to the sun, hence, its HOTTER than down on earth.
Also, another reason you know its hotter. Rockets that go into space use liquid oxygen to COOL the engines. If it were cold in space, they wouldn't need liquid oxygen, they would need HEATERS to keep everything warm so it wouldn't freeze up.

Come on folks, use your noggin once in awhile.

🙂

It's a vacuum, so it's not really hotter than it is on Earth. On Earth we experience heat because we are constantly bombarded with molecules that transfer their kinetic energy to the molecules of our skin. Absent that, we don't feel warmth. Seeing as how if you are in a vacuum, the only molecules to absorb the kinetic energy of the sun's rays would be in your body, yes, it might feel hotter, but the environment itself is devoid of heat.

But that is all dependant on where you were located. You say that the outer atmosphere and space is closer to the sun than the Earth's surface, which is only true if you choose an orbit that takes you out of Earth's atmosphere on the side closest to the sun. What if you were in the Earth's shadow? A complete vacuum with an absence of heat from an external source (as the sun's rays would be absorbed by the Earth) would be devoid of heat (and cold). Granted, there would be residual energy from the Earth, but would it be as strong as that from the sun (keeping in mind you'd be approximately 150 million km closer to the Earth)? Would the body still warm, as it were? Or would you die from exposure to a total vacuum long before feeling any effects of temperature?

 

[FP]

Originally posted by: MrDudeMan
Lots of misinformation in this thread...

You would not explode. Your eyes and ears would be the most susceptible to damage and would need to be shut/covered. Space isn't "cold" like people are saying. It is nothing. In order for your body to feel cold, you need to be losing heat. Most of our heat loss is done through exposure to air which has less kinetic energy than our skin cells, thus transferring heat out of our body. In space, there are no particles at all, so this type of heat loss is essentially non-existant. You have to radiate it which is much less efficient for a human, meaning you would not die instantly from an extremely "cold" enviornment since that isn't what it is.

Simply because we are acclimated and built for the pressure on earth doesn't mean we would explode or compress into nothing in a different atmosphere. Space shuttles are pressurized and don't explode because of the metal container, but this is exactly how our skin would function. The weak spots would be eyes and ears, but this could be mitigated if all air in the lungs was exhaled immediately. You should be able to live for 20-25 seconds with nothing other than your skin and a will to survive.

I :heart: smart people.

Funny how many replies it took before someone with the right idea came along.

Yes, the movie was event horizon. That would have hurt.

 

[slag]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: slag

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: E equals MC2
I can't think of anything else that'd immediately injure you...

Let's say you're at the outersphere of Earth, just outside the atmosphere in open space. I know the sun is super blinding and you need air...

So if you have an oxygen tank + NASA-approved shades = you're all set right?

Just thinking it'd be cool to be in an open space naked.

Dude, do you realize how cold it is in space? Not to mention that it's a complete vacuum.

You'd die almost instantly.

WRONG.

Duh.. dude, why do you think it would be cold? Its CLOSER to the sun, hence, its HOTTER than down on earth.
Also, another reason you know its hotter. Rockets that go into space use liquid oxygen to COOL the engines. If it were cold in space, they wouldn't need liquid oxygen, they would need HEATERS to keep everything warm so it wouldn't freeze up.

Come on folks, use your noggin once in awhile.

🙂

It's a vacuum, so it's not really hotter than it is on Earth. On Earth we experience heat because we are constantly bombarded with molecules that transfer their kinetic energy to the molecules of our skin. Absent that, we don't feel warmth. Seeing as how if you are in a vacuum, the only molecules to absorb the kinetic energy of the sun's rays would be in your body, yes, it might feel hotter, but the environment itself is devoid of heat.

But that is all dependant on where you were located. You say that the outer atmosphere and space is closer to the sun than the Earth's surface, which is only true if you choose an orbit that takes you out of Earth's atmosphere on the side closest to the sun. What if you were in the Earth's shadow? A complete vacuum with an absence of heat from an external source (as the sun's rays would be absorbed by the Earth) would be devoid of heat (and cold). Granted, there would be residual energy from the Earth, but would it be as strong as that from the sun (keeping in mind you'd be approximately 150 million km closer to the Earth)? Would the body still warm, as it were? Or would you die from exposure to a total vacuum long before feeling any effects of temperature?

again
🙂

it was a joke.. hence the smiley

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: BrunoPuntzJones
There's nothing in space for you to lose heat to except through radiation, which would be slow wouldn't it?

And if your O2 tank is airtight you'd be fine as your body is liquid for the most part, and you've closed off the biggest opening.

I'd vote for you'd be fine for a while. Far longer than a few seconds.

I read something about this a little while ago...I think it was a slashdot article and some guy from nasa or something was talking about it. There's a lot involved that make the problems on earth (the extreme cold, the compression changes) not as applicable in space. There's nothing to lose heat too (no surrounding air) so the extreme cold isn't as a much of a problem. And something about space changed the way compression was handled I think?

I can't remember, but I'm almost positive he said you could last 30-45 seconds or so. One of the problems was that there was no shielding from radiation or the sun at all I think.

 

[Rubycon]

How fast does the pressure drop?

What if a person was put in a chamber that was connected to another chamber evacuated to a really high vacuum say 10^-10 torr and the two were connected together with a 1 meter pipe with a rupture disc. The disc is shattered dropping the pressure nearly instantaneously.

Granted normal pressure at sea level is around 14.7 psi so even the highest vacuum could not exert more than that outward (given equal inside pressure) - what about internal bodily pressures? When a person has cramps what kind of pressure is inside their intestine? Probably not much over half ATM (another ~8 psi). Doesn't sound like a lot but to a person it is. Try blowing into the end of a pressure gauge once. It will feel like you're head's going to blow up and your ears will pop and you might move the needle a pound or two.

I guess a u-tube manometer could be used to measure the pressure of a fart. Phosphor-bronze Bourdon tube gauges in the in/h20 range are also available. I'm guessing it's not relatively much unless forced which would be painful even to those guys on Howard Stern's show. :laugh:

 

[LordMorpheus]

the zero pressure would kill you before the cold. Your blood actually boils at body temperature and zero pressure.

You could spend a short time in space without a suit, like 5 or 10 seconds, without dying.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Originally posted by: TXHokie

Originally posted by: AnitaPeterson
So... nobody in this thread (so far) has seen "2001: A Space Odyssey" ? Sad...

Looks like that is the most feasible outcome - Text

I was pretty sure that one of the critiques of 2001: A Space Odyssey was that when Dave has to eject himself into space without a helmet, he takes a deep breath when in fact he should have exhaled as much air as possible to prevent any harmful decompression of his lungs.

 

[AeroEngy]

You will most certainly die.

Ignoring being fried by the sunlight not being filtered by the atmosphere.

Water(which you are mostly made up of) will begin to boil at body temperature in a vacuum. This boiling off of water vapor carries heat away form your body thus dropping your temperature. This will continue until your body temp drops below the freezing point of water in a vacuum which is quite low. Therefore you will go from boiling to freezing. So in summary you will boil then freeze killing you quite effectively.

Video of water boiling then freezing in a relatively weak vacuum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oCjj8iDB9I

 

[MrDudeMan]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: TXHokie

Looks like that is the most feasible outcome - Text

awesome link TXHokie

If decompression takes 1/2 second or longer, even lung tissue remains intact. When the ambient pressure falls below 47 mm of mercury (similar to the pressure at the surface of Mars), the water inside all tissues passes into a vapor state beginning at the skin surface. This causes the collapse of surface cells and the loss of huge amounts of body heat via evaporation. After six seconds, the process of cell collapse involves the heart and lungs causing circulatory interruption, followed by acute anoxia, convulsions and the relaxation of the bowel muscles. After 15 seconds, mental confusion sets-in, and after 20 seconds you become unconscious. You can survive this for about 80 seconds if a pressure higher than about 47 mm mercury is then reestablished, otherwise, you turn into freeze-dried dead meat on a stick.

The point was you will become a freeze-dried piece of meat at some point, but that isn't what will kill you. You will heat up due to lack of heat dissipation and sunlight depending on where you are, and then proceed to die due to other problems such as lack of blood to transport oxygen, celluar wall break down, etc.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
absence of heat would get to you. Also space suits might offer some protection from radiation.

some? try, a lot.. that radiation is pure in space, the UV rays would probably start to fry your skin at the same time your skin is building up bloody icicles. it would probably be a very painful time before dying.