🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <720796989snx@osea.demon.co.uk> andy@osea.demon.co.uk (Andrew  
Haveland-Robinson) writes:
> >
> >   What will happen if the space suite of an austronaut gets ripped in space  
?
> >
> >   Some of us recon that he will explode while others that he will end up 
> >with lots of bruises!!. One thing that all of us agree, is that it is not
> >going to be a very healthy activity.
> 
> Well Nick, my feeling is that he would nearly explode.  A fit person can
> exert a pressure of about 2 psi.  With the lungs at 15 psi and outside zero
> there would be some nasty ruptures if he couldn't exhale quickly enough.
> (The valves in the windpipe may lock, denying him the choice).
> 
> His eyes would almost certainly pop out, and I should think the main cause
> of death would be an instant and massive stroke.  Bit depressing really...
                       ^^^^^^^

Although I cannot remember where I got this from, right after the release of  
Total Recall, there were a lot of complains from the science/space oriented  
people saying that the effects shown there would not even happen in a pure  
vaccum.  I think the article followed up with the fact that someone completely  
exposed to vaccum could survive up to two minutes, although not necesarily  
concious.
-- 
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| Carlos G. Niederstrasser        |   It is difficult to say what   |
| Princeton Planetary Society     | is impossible; for the dream of |
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