Breathing in space???

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holocene

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Here's the question:<br /><br />Could you survive in space by breathing oxygen from a mask?<br /><br />The only reason I ask is because of the reduced pressure. Your diaphragm expands, will air be pulled into your lungs if the pressure surrounding you is zero?<br /><br />What if you have say scuba equipment? Or aviation oxygen equipment?
 
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qso1

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To add to what Newsartist mentioned, the rest of your body would still require protection so there wouldn't be much point in going into space with just an oxygen mask. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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weeman

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What happens to a balloon when it goes too high in the atmosphere?<br /><br />It pops!<br /><br />This would be the same thing that would happen to you if you lunged yourself into space with no protection. Since there is pressure in our bodies, the air will instantly want to rush out when you enter into Space where it's a total vacuum. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>
 
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qso1

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Thats correct in essence. We wouldn't exactly pop at the same rate as a balloon but the gasses in our bodies would be expelled and boil off through our pores or other bodily orifices. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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tdamskov

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In short, in ten seconds you lose consciousness due to hypoxia, another minute and a half passes by and your blood starts to boil while some tissues have swollen a bit. If rescued within those 90 seconds you have a good chance of surviving without suffering permanent damage. To an observer the process won't be particularly dramatic.<br /><br />Here's an excellent link describing the major points of human survivability in vacuum.<br /><br />http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=741<br />
 
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silylene old

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I think a 45 second exposure would cause permanent brain damage, just as the bends can cause.<br /><br />Even repeated exposure to changing pressure within accepted 'safe limits' can cause permanent brain damage brain damage in divers.<br /><br />Climbers of Mt Everest get permanent brain damage from exposure to the 0.2 atm of pressure: low altitude brain damage. <br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Acute exposure<br />Beginning with the notorious balloon flights in the latter half of the 19th century (Glaisher et al., 1981), an extensive literature describes not only such dramatic but also subtler effects of hypoxia on the central nervous system. Investigators have documented decrements in performance on a variety of neuropsychometric tests after sudden exposure to even relatively moderate hypoxia (2000–4500m). The literature has been reviewed by Stickney and Van Liere (Stickney and Van Liere, 1953), Tune (Tune, 1964) and, more recently, by Ernsting (Ernsting, 1978). One response to acute hypoxia is slowed performance, particularly on more complex tests of cognitive and motor function. While error rates also increase, a number of investigators have suggested that slowing might be a strategy designed to minimize mistakes. Changes (in a visual-positioning test performed during light work) have been reported at an altitude as low as 1500m (Denison et al., 1966). These changes with acute hypoxia are evidence that even modest levels of hypoxia can impair brain function. <br /><br />Sustained hypoxia<br />The history of Mount Everest climbs is replete with anecdotal accounts of cognitive impairment of various forms, dating from the early attempts in the 1920s and 1930s. ‘Mental laziness’, i.e. a disinclination rather than an inability to perform mental work</p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>
 
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qso1

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tdamskov:<br />To an observer the process won't be particularly dramatic.<br /><br />Me:<br />Except of course, in da movies. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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SpeedFreek

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Yes I think most of us got our ideas on what happens to humans in vacuum from the movies!<br /><br />I have heard that in Total Recall, where Arnie ends up exposed to the surface of Mars, is one of the more accurate depictions of the process. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000">_______________________________________________<br /></font><font size="2"><em>SpeedFreek</em></font> </p> </div>
 
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qso1

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There was a movie with Sean Connery where someone was forced out of an airlock on the moon Io IIRC. It was dramatic to say the least. Mars would essentially be the same effect as being in a total vacuum so I tend to think the Total Recall scene was greatly exaggerated as well. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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nightelf125

Guest
Wait, but wouldn't you die from the freezing cold temperature instantly? Plus your lungs would explode, so the instant your without a pressure suit, shouldn't you die?
 
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franontanaya

Guest
In vacuum there isn't a medium to transfer heat, so freezing isn't that fast. I guess a non pressurized suit that reflects most of the heat you radiate would still help.<br /><br />Maybe most of the freezing effect would happen by the sublimation of water through the skin. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>
 
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