At the risk of putting folk off their food, would not the effect depend on
the speed of the depressurisation?

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
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"Henry Spencer" wrote in message
...
| In article ,
| Chris Wood wrote:
| If a person were suddenly placed in a vacuum, e.g.,
| thrown out of a spaceship without a protective/pressure-ized
| suit -- a la science fiction movies, would they really pop
| like a balloon, or is this an exaggeration?
|
| It's not merely an exaggeration, it's a myth. Animal experiments, one
| test-chamber spacesuit accident, and the Soyuz 11 disaster demonstrated
| decades ago that nothing much happens when a person is placed in vacuum.
|
| The first event of note is that after 10-15 seconds, he suddenly loses
| consciousness due to lack of oxygen. Some uncertain time later, perhaps a
| minute, the accumulated brain damage from lack of oxygen is bad enough
| that he's effectively dead. (If those numbers sound short, it's because
| in most comparable accidents on the ground, there is considerable air left
| in the lungs, and that makes a large difference.)
|
| Serious physical damage from the lack of pressure takes rather longer than
| that. The bodies of the Soyuz 11 crew spent perhaps ten minutes in
| vacuum, and looked normal enough that the recovery team started CPR.
| --
| MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec | Henry Spencer
| pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well. |



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