2001

Would anyone remember the scene in 2001: a space odyssey wherein David
Bowman has to basically bust his way back into the spaceship Discovery?

He's not wearing a helmet and he takes about 5 seconds before he starts
closing the powered door and flooding the room he's blown himself into
with oxygen.So basically he's in orbit above Jupiter,or thereabouts,for
at least 5 seconds without a helmet.

What I am wondering is this: wouldn't his head have been freeze dried
instantly? Or wouldn't the vacuum have done something horrible to it?

Thanks

Lins wrote:
Would anyone remember the scene in 2001: a space odyssey wherein David
Bowman has to basically bust his way back into the spaceship Discovery?

He's not wearing a helmet and he takes about 5 seconds before he starts
closing the powered door and flooding the room he's blown himself into
with oxygen.So basically he's in orbit above Jupiter,or thereabouts,for
at least 5 seconds without a helmet.

What I am wondering is this: wouldn't his head have been freeze dried
instantly? Or wouldn't the vacuum have done something horrible to it?

The movie got it pretty much right.
In vaccum, you pass out in under 15 seconds or so (the lungs work the
wrong way and becuase of the low pressure of oxygen in the lungs, the
oxygen in the blood streams out).
And the lungs burst if you try to hold your breath.

Essentially nothing irreversable happens in the first minute or so.
Freeze drying is not a very fast process.
In more than a minute, things like brain damage begin to set in,
and you will probably not start breathing again spontaneously without
help.

In article ,
(Lins) wrote:

Would anyone remember the scene in 2001: a space odyssey wherein David
Bowman has to basically bust his way back into the spaceship Discovery?

He's not wearing a helmet and he takes about 5 seconds before he starts
closing the powered door and flooding the room he's blown himself into
with oxygen.So basically he's in orbit above Jupiter,or thereabouts,for
at least 5 seconds without a helmet.

What I am wondering is this: wouldn't his head have been freeze dried
instantly? Or wouldn't the vacuum have done something horrible to it?

Briefly, no. NASA and the US Air Force experimented with this in the
early 1960s. No exploding heads, etc. One has only 10 to 15 seconds of
consciousness because oxygen will be pouring out of your lungs into the
vacuum, which leads us to the big mistake shown in that sequence. The
astronaut should not have taken a big breath and holding it before
blowing the door. That would have killed him, because his chest would
have burst. If you ever find yourself about to be immersed in vacuum,
exhale completely and keep your airway wide open.

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 16:32:51 -0400, Lins wrote:
Would anyone remember the scene in 2001: a space odyssey wherein David
Bowman has to basically bust his way back into the spaceship Discovery?

He's not wearing a helmet and he takes about 5 seconds before he starts
closing the powered door ...

... wouldn't his head have been freeze dried
instantly? Or wouldn't the vacuum have done something horrible to it?

Studies, experiments, and at least one accident indicate that a person
might stay conscious for up to 30 seconds, so the scene is possible.

In "Mission to Mars", an astronaut commits suicide by removing his
helmet and dying instantly. That happened much too fast (and
cleanly).

-paul-
--
Paul E. Black )

Paul E. Black wrote:

In "Mission to Mars", an astronaut commits suicide by removing his
helmet and dying instantly. That happened much too fast (and
cleanly).

Scientific and engineering accuracy doesn't seem to have been a big
concern in Mission to Mars.

In 2001 the centrifuge was completely contained inside the hull. In M to
M, it formed part of the hull, implying an air-tight rotating seal.
Don't think so, somehow.

Also, didn't they have a guy surviving in a tent using a high oxygen
concentration? At Mars' atmostpheric pressure, even pure oxygen isn't
enough.

Sylvia.

In article ,
Lins wrote:
...So basically he's in orbit above Jupiter,or thereabouts,for
at least 5 seconds without a helmet.
What I am wondering is this: wouldn't his head have been freeze dried
instantly? Or wouldn't the vacuum have done something horrible to it?

Nope. Not quickly. His big problem is simply that with vacuum in his
lungs, he only has maybe 15 seconds of consciousness left -- the time it
takes blood to get from his lungs, through the left side of his heart, to
his brain.

It was tried in the 60s, deliberately on animals and once accidentally on
a spacesuit technician (early in Apollo suit development). The first
significant event is passing out when the deoxygenated blood reaches your
brain. All other effects are much slower. If you're repressurized within
maybe 30 seconds total, there seems to be no permanent injury.
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |

Henry Spencer skrev:

Snip

It was tried in the 60s, deliberately on animals and once accidentally on
a spacesuit technician (early in Apollo suit development). The first
significant event is passing out when the deoxygenated blood reaches your
brain. All other effects are much slower. If you're repressurized within
maybe 30 seconds total, there seems to be no permanent injury.
-- |

It was also tried in arather more drastic way in 1902 IIRC.

That was a french doctor, who wanted to see how long time there is a
consciousness after they cut the head of a convict with the
guilliotine.

So he talked it through with the unfortunate victim, and performed the
experiment, shouting the mans name at him.

Last response was 15 sec. after loosing the head.

Regards

Carsten Nielsen
Denmark