Wierd question

brandbll · Jul 27, 2006

What would happen to a living animal if it was all of a sudden exposed to space? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard! </div>

Saiph · Jul 27, 2006

well...within 10 seconds or so it'd be brain dead. Ignoring that: The moisture on the tongue and eyes (and any other exposed mucus membranes) would quickly evaporate. Numbness spreads quickly through the exposed tissue, and motor function diminishes. You can survive vacuum exposure, you can recover completely, it just sucks. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> --------------------SaiphMOD@gmail.com -------------------"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

yevaud · Jul 27, 2006

[forehead slapping emoticon here] <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

tex_1224 · Jul 27, 2006

It would adapt very quickly or die. There is a creature that can live in the vacuum of space. It is a microscopic marine creature. It can lay dormant inside of its exoskelaton shell for millions of years. I can't think of its name though. I saw it on this show about the 10 most survivable creatures. It was number 1 because it could survive the vacuum of space. Now, I'm going to have to look it up... I'll post again with its name, and maybe some photo's. I'll be back.

yevaud · Jul 27, 2006

Yes, certain spores could do this as well. But you'll note that this is not a scenario that answers the conditions the question was about. Still, it is pretty damned interesting, and does lend a minor amount of credence to the hypothesis on Panspermia. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Differential Diagnosis: "I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are." </div>

Saiph · Jul 27, 2006

anyway, the short answer is: Yes, 2001's impromptu spacewalk scene is possible, even if it's a bit exagerated (but hey, it is a movie) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> --------------------SaiphMOD@gmail.com -------------------"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

brandbll · Jul 27, 2006

So you wouldn't just pop or something? You could actually survive? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard! </div>

Saiph · Jul 27, 2006

Your body can easily regulate a 1atm pressure difference. Your blood and internal fluids won't boil, heck, you won't even get a serious case of the bends. Being what, 15ft under water is 1 atm of positive pressure difference, and people can safely go down to 60+ feet without pressure suits. More here <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> --------------------SaiphMOD@gmail.com -------------------"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

brandbll · Jul 27, 2006

VEry nice, answered all my questions. The only thing i am still sort of confused about is temperature in space. Although i suppose it is probably all relative to where you are located. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard! </div>

vandivx · Jul 28, 2006

I think you would freeze dry instantly and become a deliciously preserved snak, better than mumification I'd say because of this, orbital coffins with viewing glass in front may become fashion with dead people once it is not so expensive to travel up there, more expensive models will be equipped with atomic powered orbital booster to keep you up there, cheaper models would burn up in atmosphere once they deorbited enough imagine how nice it would be to circle up there while wars would be raging down here and civilizations changing and then when you'd age enough, some civilization ten millenia later would recover you and disect you to find out about our current times how we lived in that long gone rocket age circa 2000 ad I dare forecast that this has good chance to become the industry that might drive opening space more than some crazy tourism, lots of money to be made in orbital funeral business where airplanes fly it is about -50 to -60 C, in space it might be -200 C on your back where sun don't shine and on front you'd be baking at some very blistering pace, sun is deadly without atmoshpere also, I'd be inclined to think that our body can take more on higher pressure side but not so much too little pressure, just because we can survive many atmospheres while diving doesn't mean we could just shrugg off that one atmosphere, at least that's my amateurish opinion it could easily be tested, just take a cat up on next space shuttle ride and watch it in real time on TV, I am sure world would be thrilled no end with such show vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

Saiph · Jul 28, 2006

it has been tested... and we don't immediately fry, or freeze, explode, or expand, no rapid boiling of anything but directly exposed fluids (saliva and moisture on the eyes). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> --------------------SaiphMOD@gmail.com -------------------"This is my Timey Wimey Detector. Goes "bing" when there's stuff. It also fries eggs at 30 paces, wether you want it to or not actually. I've learned to stay away from hens: It's not pretty when they blow" -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

CalliArcale · Jul 31, 2006

I saw that show about the 10 most extreme survivors, and it was the water bear that won, able to survive even in a vacuum. Water bears are microscopic invertebrates that are amazingly rugged. They are made mostly of water. You'd think such a thing would have a hard time in a vacuum, but it turns out that their drought survival technique is so effective that it'll even work in a vacuum. They basically dry up on purpose. As soon as they are exposed to water again, they come back to life. Amazing creatures. More sophisticated animals have a harder time. Humans, for instance, are very complex and this complexity actually limits our options -- what one system will endure, another may not, and so on. However, we do not instantly explode in a vacuum, contrary to many B movies and paperback novels. As a matter of fact, there are three people who have been killed by "sucking space" -- the crew of Soyuz 11. It was a terrible tragedy; the first genuine casualties in outer space. A pressure equalization valve opened up while undocking from Salyut 1. This valve isn't supposed to open until they are hanging from their parachute in the final stages of descent; they were killed in less than a minute. The rescue crew didn't know what to expect when they opened the capsule; all telemetry had been perfect, except for the disturbing silence of the crew. When they opened it up, the crewmembers appeared to be in good physical condition, apart from being dead. They looked asleep. They attempted to revive them, but they'd been dead for pretty much the entire descent, so it was hopeless. Autopsies revealed internal bleeding, particularly brain hemmorages. They probably died in a fashion similar to people who die of the bends (aeroembolism due to decompression). It's normally very painful. The good news is that when reviewing the cockpit recordings and recorded biometrics, they appeared to have lost consciousness very quickly due to lack of oxygen, so <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff." -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

dragon04 · Aug 1, 2006

I think you would freeze dry instantly and become a deliciously preserved snak, better than mumification I'd say That's not neccessarily true. Even on the surface of Mars during a Martian "summer", daytime temperatures would keep anything from being "freeze dried". While an atmosphere can enhance temperature, it can also mitigate temperature. As an example, IIRC, it's "warmer" on the Moon's surface in "daytime" than it is anywhere on Earth. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!". </div>

why06 · Aug 1, 2006

I know the animal you're talking about.... ...It is a water bear http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun00/mmbearp.html <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div>________________________________________ </div><div><ul><li>your move...</li></ul></div> </div>

robnissen · Aug 2, 2006

They did die fairly quickly, but there was some evidence that one of the cosmonauts tried to close the hatch before he passed out.

vandivx · Aug 2, 2006

<blockquote>In reply to:<hr />That's not neccessarily true. Even on the surface of Mars during a Martian "summer", daytime temperatures would keep anything from being "freeze dried".<hr /></blockquote> ok, make it baked dry then <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> but seriously, such space mumification might not be even as good as ancient egyptians preservation for millenia in dry sand climate since in space you would be bombarded by highly energetic particles that might completely destroy you in time, I remember experiments done on some materials being exposed in space for long time and upon retreival they were found quite damaged, don't remember details of it though and yes, without atmosphere helping to distribute temperature like on moon, you get searing temperatures where sun shines and freezing ones in shade behind a boulder say, in both cases though you get dried out before long and preserved that way from normal decomposition in light of the above posts, could then human make a trip into space with just a basic breathing aparatus and protecting gogles like divers use when diving in water to small depth if he gradually aclimatized in some decompression chamber first? I suppose in space you would still need to protect body from that baking and freezing but inside a spaceship that slowly lost air you migh very well be fine, for some time anyway vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

search · Aug 3, 2006

Surprise: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html

brandbll · Aug 3, 2006

If you read the link Saiph put up there it tells a story about how one of the astronaughts punctured his suit during a spacewalk. The metal bar in his glove punctured trhough his suit or something. He didn't notice though until he got back inside the space shuttle and noticed his hand was bloody. This was because the skin from his hand sealed up the hole immediately. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> You wanna talk some jive? I'll talk some jive. I'll talk some jive like you've never heard! </div>

nexium · Aug 3, 2006

You cannot inhale if your chest and abdomen are in a vaccum, but a modified basic breathing device could force a small amount of oxygen into your lungs, which would escape your lungs in a second when the pressure was removed. Possibly you would survive an hour, but you would not get enough oxygen without over inflating your lungs. Neil

vandivx · Aug 3, 2006

interesting links (this one from SEARCH and Saiph earlier) now I know more on this subject than I might ever need <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> I recall now that accident not more than a year ago of an airliner (Airbus 320 I think) that flew into Greek airspace with everybody on board unconscious and eventually fell down in mountains there, they must have had decompression and pilots didn't have oxygen in their masks very likely, that was my theory at the time on that accident which was then swept under carpet so to speak and nothing was heard about subsequent investigation appart from some bland and obviously evading article in news some half a year later vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

search · Aug 13, 2006

vanDivX The question refers to exposure to space and the Airline accident you refer (which occured with a Boeing 737 not a Airbus 320) was not a case of exposure to space. Here is some info about the accident. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20050814-0 In any case both type of aircraft fly no higher than 12 km and space starts well above. Here is some definitions about the atmosphere and space. http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/atmosphere.html

kewell_ · May 10, 2007

In the NASA article that SEARCH posted said "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 conscious 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 consciousness 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." Why would the water on his tongue begin to boil?

CalliArcale · May 11, 2007

To elaborate, the phenomenon of boiling is not merely a question of temperature. A liquid boils (forms bubbles which rise to the surface and pop) when the pressure of molecules "trying" to become gas equals or exceeds that of the ambient air pressure. It takes energy (heat) to increase the pressure of those molecules, so heating a liquid eventually causes it to boil. And reducing the ambient air pressure makes it easier for this to happen (i.e. it happens at a lower temperature). The effect is significant. Read a cookbook sometime. You may notice that some of the recipes have special instructions for high-altitude cooks. This is because water boils at a lower temperature at higher altitudes, where the air is thinner. So if you want to hard-boil an egg, you'll have to cook it longer, because the boiling water will be cooler than 100C. (This is also significant if you're trying to purify drinking water by boiling it, something which mountain backpackers need to remember.) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff." -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink" </div>

vandivx · May 12, 2007

more elaboration you get 'rotten tea' if its made @~4000 feet and up, the higher you go the worse it gets you can fight it with pressure cooker <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> it allows you to achieve higher boiling temperature due to higher atmospheric pressure inside the cooker, that's why you boil hard to boil stuff in them even at low altitudes anybody knows what temperature can one achieve in some good pressure cooker pot? maybe 120 degrees celsia? vanDivX <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

docm · May 12, 2007

125 Â°C (257 Â°F) @ 15 PSI, but many have adjustable regulators to allow cooking at lower pressures. 15 PSI was set by the USDA in 1917. Other advantages are better retention of nutrients, much shorter cooking times and lower energy use. Downside is poor texture and flavor in the hands of amatures who tend to overcook. Use one all the time and have a bigger one for canning. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

Wierd question

brandbll

Guest

Saiph

Guest

yevaud

Guest

tex_1224

Guest

yevaud

Guest

Saiph

Guest

brandbll

Guest

Saiph

Guest

brandbll

Guest

vandivx

Guest

Saiph

Guest

CalliArcale

Guest

dragon04

Guest

why06

Guest

robnissen

Guest

vandivx

Guest

search

Guest

brandbll

Guest

nexium

Guest

vandivx

Guest

search

Guest

kewell_

Guest

CalliArcale

Guest

vandivx

Guest

docm

Guest

Similar threads

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page