Human in a space vacuum

[RTFishall]

What would happen to the human body if exposed to the vacuum of space

[perigra]

if it was a woman, she'd do the hoovering!

[RTFishall]

perigra... I said "human body" not women! lol

[Clanad]

Check here: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/an swers/970603.html

[Robb Phoenix]

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/atmospher e/q0291.shtml

Vacuums are indeed lethal: Under extremely low pressure air trapped in the lungs expands, tearing the tender gas-exchange tissues. This is especially grave if you are holding your breath or inhaling deeply when the pressure drops. Water in the soft tissues of your body vaporizes, causing gross swelling, though the tight seal of your skin would prevent you from actually bursting apart. Your eyes, likewise, would refrain from exploding, but continued escape of gas and water vapor leads to rapid cooling of the mouth and airways.

Water and dissolved gas in the blood forms bubbles in the major veins, which travel throughout the circulatory system and block blood flow. After about one minute circulation effectively stops. The lack of oxygen to the brain renders you unconscious in less than 15 seconds

ne 1965 study by researchers at the Brooks Air Force Base in Texas showed that dogs exposed to near vacuum�one three-hundred-eightieth of atmospheric pressure at sea level�for up to 90 seconds always survived. During their exposure, they were unconscious and paralyzed. Gas expelled from their bowels and stomachs caused simultaneous defecation, projectile vomiting and urination. They suffered massive seizures. Their tongues were often coated in ice and the dogs swelled to resemble "an inflated goatskin bag," the authors wrote. But after slight re pressurization the dogs shrank back down, began to breathe, and after 10 to 15 minutes at sea level pressure, they managed to walk, though it took a few more minutes for their apparent blindness to wear off.

[Robb Phoenix]

in 1965 a technician inside a vacuum chamber at Johnson Space Center in Houston accidentally depressurized his space suit by disrupting a hose. After 12 to 15 seconds he lost consciousness. He regained it at 27 seconds, after his suit was repressurized to about half that of sea level. The man reported that his last memory before blacking out was of the moisture on his tongue beginning to boil as well as a loss of taste sensation that lingered for four days following the accident, but he was otherwise unharmed.

[Androcles]

Bet you're glad you asked that!!!!

[Hymie]

If you want to see the effects it has (according to Hollywood), check out the film Total Recall.

This might not be a very accurate portrayal � I seem to recall at the end of the film, that heating the ice on Mars created an oxygen atmosphere.

[ll_billym]

In the film Event Horizon a guy is exposed to the vaccum of space for a few seconds and all his veins came to the surface and blood came out of his eyes.

It is a horror film though so it obviously wasn;t going to be pretty.

[Robb Phoenix]

<\b>ll_billym <\b>Quote:
"In the film Event Horizon a guy is exposed to the vaccum of space for a few seconds and all his veins came to the surface and blood came out of his eyes."

That happens only in the movies not in real life.

[heathfield]

In the International Space Station, the internal air is maintained at the normal sea level atmospheric pressure of 14.7 psi. For those of the crew going on a 'space walk', they spend time in the airlock at a pressure of 10,2 psi. This is to remove nitrogen from the blood, in the same way as scuba divers have to carry out stops to prevent the bends. Once in their spacesuits, they're breathing pure oxygen at only 4.3 psi. So the effects of experiencing a vacuum would initially be less severe for those in their suits.