Ever wondered what REALLY happens during decompression?

[sboydtaylor]

It seems a person can spend up to 1.5 minutes in a hard vacuum with no irreversible damage (though you will be blind for a while -- yet another thing to warn sons about?).

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=741

Thanks to prof_botherton

Comments

[sboydtaylor]

You got them decompression blues?

[therinth]

Hey thanks Sam -- i needed this info for a recent idea, how cool!

[sboydtaylor]

No problem :)

I knew that thanks to Arthur C. Clarke

[anonymous]

...cause it happens in 2001. Though the movie version left a lot of the audience muttering "Hey, that's impossible!" Movies are bad at exposition.

Oops

[anonymous]

Guess I should have mentioned that the previous comment was from David Isaak.

Re: Oops

[sboydtaylor]

Hah. :) No problem. I'd never actually READ 2001. or 2010. But I did read 2061 (I think it was called that?). Boy, I was lost ;)

[info_analyzer]

ehmm... I guess being in vacuum means the inevitable death because of gas pressure in your body. When there is nothing around - then your gas (usually balanced with the pressure of atmosphere) in your blood begins to spread out. And it does it very quickly. So - a second of vacuum - and your body break into numerous pieces because of decompression explosion.

[sboydtaylor]

That is the urban myth, yes.

Per the article, it turns out that while the expanding gasses do cause damage (you go blind after a very short time, and you will get the bends), the damage is reversible and usually temporary.

Of course it's possible the article is wrong (science articles in the news papers are often wrong) -- but it takes into account the results of several historical decompressions (some resulting in death and others not) -- so it would be easy enough to look each incident up and check the accuracy of the article.

[info_analyzer]

Anyway, spacemen from the International Space Station will never get a wish to check this with their own bodies:)

[sboydtaylor]

Heh. Hopefully not!