Thursday, August 2, 2007

Can You Survive in Space Without a Spacesuit?



Interesting article on Slate about what would really happen if you were exposed to the hard vacuum of space without a space suit. Some neat snippets:

An astronaut who fell unconscious from lack of oxygen would last for a few minutes more before dying from asphyxiation or the effects of the pressure reduction. Ebullism would result in the formation of bubbles in the moisture found in the eyes, mouth, and skin tissue. One NASA test subject who survived a 1965 accident in which he was exposed to near-vacuum conditions felt the saliva on his tongue begin to boil before he lost consciousness after 14 seconds.

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