Do you decompose in space?

[vovan]

Aha, also found a quote from an old book, Bioastronautics Data Book.

"Some degree of consciousness will probably be retained for 9 to 11 seconds (see chapter 2 under Hypoxia). In rapid sequence thereafter, paralysis will be followed by generalized convulsions and paralysis once again. During this time, water vapor will form rapidly in the soft tissues and somewhat less rapidly in the venous blood. This evolution of water vapor will cause marked swelling of the body to perhaps twice its normal volume unless it is restrained by a pressure suit. (It has been demonstrated that a properly fitted elastic garment can entirely prevent ebullism at pressures as low as 15 mm Hg absolute [Webb, 1969, 1970].) Heart rate may rise initially, but will fall rapidly thereafter. Arterial blood pressure will also fall over a period of 30 to 60 seconds, while venous pressure rises due to distention of the venous system by gas and vapor. Venous pressure will meet or exceed arterial pressure within one minute. There will be virtually no effective circulation of blood. After an initial rush of gas from the lungs during decompression, gas and water vapor will continue to flow outward through the airways. This continual evaporation of water will cool the mouth and nose to near-freezing temperatures; the remainder of the body will also become cooled, but more slowly.

"Cook and Bancroft (1966) reported occasional deaths of animals due to fibrillation of the heart during the first minute of exposure to near vacuum conditions. Ordinarily, however, survival was the rule if recompression occurred within about 90 seconds. ... Once heart action ceased, death was inevitable, despite attempts at resuscitation....

[on recompression] "Breathing usually began spontaneously... Neurological problems, including blindness and other defects in vision, were common after exposures (see problems due to evolved gas), but usually disappeared fairly rapidly.

"It is very unlikely that a human suddenly exposed to a vacuum would have more than 5 to 10 seconds to help himself. If immediate help is at hand, although one's appearance and condition will be grave, it is reasonable to assume that recompression to a tolerable pressure (200 mm Hg, 3.8 psia) within 60 to 90 seconds could result in survival, and possibly in rather rapid recovery."

Sounds good. So, no, one won't explode. What do you know, people hung some good spaghetti on my ears all this time.

[Static Universe]

Strange how they leave out what it does to the eyes.

[Richard Bruns]

Originally posted by Static Universe
Strange how they leave out what it does to the eyes.

They included it; the effects are temproary:

Neurological problems, including blindness and other defects in vision, were common after exposures (see problems due to evolved gas), but usually disappeared fairly rapidly.

Just close your eyes; your skin and muscles are able to protect them over the time period listed. The radiation would probably be much worse than the vaccuum anyway.

[My Wife Hates CIV]

space worms would eat everything but the metal seal rings of your space suit. at least that's what happened on a movie i watched years back.

[Jack the Bodiless]

There's a difference between "decompression" and "explosive decompression". If you're breathing air at normal atmospheric pressure and suddenly find yourself in a vacuum, then every square inch of the lining of your lungs will be subject to fifteen pounds of outward pressure. I think this would burst a human ribcage.

But it would have to be rapid, giving no time to reduce the pressure significantly by exhaling. Something like having your spacecraft cut in half by an alien death ray or a passing meteorite.

[My Wife Hates CIV]

"Something like having your spacecraft cut in half by an alien death ray "

you must have seen the same movie!!!

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Dying in space is no fun, because no one can hear you scream.

Actually I'd have thought that if you were screaming and you'd managed to get a good lungful of air first, your air molecules would probably be able to reach some auditor's eardrums and therefore they MIGHT be able to hear you screaming if of course they weren't themselves also screaming as their bodies underwent the same depressurization as your own because while they were straining to hear your screams in their distracted schadenfreude they had forgotten to put on their vacuum suit.

My housemate used to claim to be a TIE Fighter pilot and these sort of arguments were pretty common.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Calc II


fun for who?

For the people who can't hear you screaming, silly!

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
My housemate used to claim to be a TIE Fighter pilot and these sort of arguments were pretty common.

How did you arrange his demise?

[Lung]

This reminds me of a well-known sci-fi movie flaw. In Mission to Mars, Tim Robbins instantly freezes when he lifts his helmet visor in psace.

Interestingly, he should have taken a few thousand years to freeze, as the lack of molecules in space mean it would take a loooong time to transfer his body heat into space. I know someone has already covered this, but with movies perpetuating these myths, it's no surprise that they are as popular as they are. http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movies/m2mreview.html

[KrazyHorse]

He probably would have frozen pretty quickly. First off, if he was actually on mars then there is an atmosphere. Enough of one the facilitate heat transfer. Secondly, the boiling of his bodily fluids would have also grabbed a bunch of heat from him. Thirdly, radiative heat loss is significant in the medium term (minutes and hours).

Now, admittedly Mars' atmosphere is occasionally above freezing, but most of the time it's pretty cold (ambient is ~-70 IIRC.)

I don't know how long it would have taken to freeze, but it wouldn't be measured in years.

[The Mad Monk]

If your suit still has containment in the helmet, they'll be able to hear your screams over the radio.

If the radio is not working, and you can make your way over to the other person, your can touch your helmet and theirs and enough vibration should be able to cross the point of contact for the other person to hear your screams.

[Chemical Ollie]

I have always wondered what happens first if you release a cup of liquid water into space: does it freeze instantly into a large ice chunk or does it first vaporize and then freeze to small ice crystals?

[Illyrien]

a body in space would explode due to the presure from within the body (in the same way that deep sea wish explode when you pull them to the surface)

After that all of your fluids would boil off into space, leaving a little behind.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by notyoueither


How did you arrange his demise?

He's still alive and well and kicking around Beijing somewhere executing Yoshis with a large laser sighted shotgun.

[The Mad Monk]

Um...right.

[Buck Birdseed]

Freeze-drying is a very good way to treat a dead body- by far the most energy-efficient transfer of nutrients back to nature if/when it's allowed to decompose (certainly more so than the counterproductive burial and the extremely wasteful cremation).