How long can a human live unprotected in space?

[MikeMcc]

As per usual Arthur C Clarke beat them to the punch line by a few decades. As seen in 2001 when Bowman reenters Discovery by popping the hatch on his pod. He also wrote a short story about a bunch of space station workers who were in a pod that came loose. They had to cross open space to get to a rescue ship, he pointed out the biggest problem was the sunburn from being exposed to direct sunlight. Take a Deep Breath was written in 1957, four years before Gagarin's flight!

There's actually plenty of references:

http://www.geoffreylandis.com/vacuum_sf.html

 

[editor]

That looks like good excuse to post this:

 

[Crispy]

That looks like good excuse to post this:

It's a fantastic scene, spoiled by two science errors (In a film that's right at the top of the list for scientific accuracy. apart from the journey through the stargate at the end anyway)

1. The sudden release of the pod door spewed the pod's atmosphere, along with Bowman, out the back. This should have sent the pod moving in the opposite direction, but didn't

2. Bowman takes a deep breath and holds it in with all his might. This is the wrong thing to do. He should have taken lots of deep breaths to oxegenate his blood, before exhaling completely, to prevent the pressure in his lungs from rupturing them in the vacuum. Arthur Clarke has said that he wasn't on set that day, but would have corrected the error if he had been.

 

[silverfish]

David Blaine could live unprotected in space for at least a month. Fact.

a mob of "disrespectful" egg chuckers and hecklers would outlast him by at least 5 minutes

 

[EastEnder]

I so wish I'd been called "David", just so I could get my 'puter to say "Hello Dave..." every morning. The novelty would never wear off.

 

[IMR]

a mob of "disrespectful" egg chuckers and hecklers would outlast him by at least 5 minutes

I felt really proud when that happened to Blaine in London. He's such a plank.

 

[kyser_soze]

01-276-7091

Spot the reference and win nothing.

 

[DotCommunist]

I use3d to think explosive decompression would kill you first. But then space is so cold you might die of shock- counter to this is that vacuum is a crap conductr for heat n trhat so you'd have residual warmth for a bit. So perhaps it would after all judst be oxgyen starvation that kills you. If I had to die in space I'd want it to be a bit more impressive than suffocation.

 

[kyser_soze]

I'd want to die the way the Captain dies in Sunshine, when he's out fixing the heat shield and gets torn up by the sun. That was

 

[Crispy]

Your lungs are great at transfering oxygen - in a vacuum, the oxygen is literally sucked out of your blood. You pass out in 15 seconds as this deoxygenated blood reaches the brain.

 

[Crispy]

I'd want to die the way the Captain dies in Sunshine, when he's out fixing the heat shield and gets torn up by the sun. That was

That film gets the "it's really cold in sapce" thing wrong.

 

[kyser_soze]

True enough, altho I'd still want some kind of thermal wrapping if I were to be uncontrollably ejected over what looks to be a gap of about 50m.

So, no-one got my little teaser yet? Sorry state of affairs. It's intimately related to the issue of being dumped in a vacuum and the chances of being rescued...

 

[Crispy]

Ah, well it's the phone number of an Islington flat that hosted a party where Arthur once tried but failed to get off with a very bright and pretty young astrophyicist

 

[kyser_soze]

It is indeed. When I saw your post #41 I thought 'Ah, Crispy's got it.' only to have my hopes dashed - dashed - against the rocks of science. Then you came through.

 

[Crispy]

I should have twigged it from the old 01- london code...

 

[kyser_soze]

I had to spend time looking that one up too - the easy results on google were all from the movie, which is an 0207 number. Had to dig around in the radio scripts.

 

[Crispy]

Ooh, are they available online?

 

[kyser_soze]

http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/THHGTTG Timeline.htm

 

[ericjarvis]

I always thought that humans exploded in a dramatic fashion.

In films everything explodes in a dramatic fashion under pretty much any conceivable circumstances. I've always assumed that most things don't explode in a dramatic fashion unless a special effects team are present.

 

[Crispy]

Change from a fiver for 6 pints

 

[kyser_soze]

I also found this *cough*

A link I have sent myself via the e-mail cos it's got some cracking stuff in it

 

[Gromit]

In films everything explodes in a dramatic fashion under pretty much any conceivable circumstances. I've always assumed that most things don't explode in a dramatic fashion unless a special effects team are present.

False logic.

My ejaculations look exactly like the Death Star exploding (second edition re-edited version). No special effects team required.

 

[kyser_soze]

vs

 

[maomao]

It is of course still possible for a human being to explode through rapid decompression you just need a difference of more tha one atmosphere:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byford_Dolphin

Diver D4 was shot out through the small jammed hatch door opening, and was ripped apart. Subsequent investigation by forensic pathologists determined D4, being exposed to the highest pressure gradient, violently exploded due to the rapid and massive expansion of internal gases. All of his thoracic and abdominal organs, and even his thoracic spine were ejected, as were all of his limbs. Simultaneously, his remains were expelled through the narrow trunk opening left by the jammed chamber door, less than 60 centimetres (24 in) in diameter. Fragments of his body were found scattered about the rig. One part was even found lying on the rig’s derrick, 10 metres (30 ft) directly above the chambers. His death was most likely instantaneous and painless.

 

[EastEnder]

True enough, altho I'd still want some kind of thermal wrapping if I were to be uncontrollably ejected over what looks to be a gap of about 50m.

I think the problem with being exposed to a vacuum in space is that the reality is nowhere near dramatic enough for Hollywood. It definitely wouldn't be the most pleasant of experiences, but neither is it especially traumatic. You don't explode, implode, freeze or melt. You pass out within a few seconds, your eardrums might burst, probably bleed a bit from exposed mucous membranes - although such bleeding would be staunched as the escaping blood froze - then your inert corpse will just float there, slowly cooling down over many hours (radiative heat loss is hardly fast). All in all, a bit of an anticlimax really.

 

[DotCommunist]

so how would we design a human to withstand vacuum? sphincters for the ears and nose, some secondary eyelids that seal off the eyes but are see through. A third lung that can be kept in reserve by some hyperventilating to fill it with oxgyenated blood. Still not looking at lasting very long though...

 

[editor]

I looked for pics of astronauts exploding in space Hollywood-style but only found this image instead.

 

[kyser_soze]

He's thinking in that 'Do I really want to be with a woman who snogged her brother? WTF have I got myself into here!! HELP!!'

 

[strung out]

what was the film where a bunch of space travellers have to transfer themselves from one spaceship to another by holding their breath and jumping out of an airlock? i think in this film they all froze on their way across and had icicles hanging to them when they made it.

 

[kyser_soze]

Sunshine, as discussed above ^^^