Will it tear a person apart in space without a spacesuit? Soulless Space: Death in Outer Space
We love to watch films about space, but it is not always true to draw knowledge about life from them. So, in the films it is shown that a person, finding himself in space without a spacesuit, can explode or freeze.
Will the man explode?
No, a person will not explode, no matter how brightly it is shown in science fiction films. That's why they are fantastic - the laws of the genre oblige, but in reality this will not happen to a person. It must be admitted that there is still logic in this myth, since it is quite logical to assume that, due to the large difference in pressure, a person will “inflate” and may burst like a balloon.
In fact, a person will simply exhale all the air, since with a pressure drop in the suit of 1 atmosphere, the load will be 40 kilograms on the soft sky, the area of which can be conventionally considered 4 square centimeters. A person, with all his might, will not be able to hold back the air. And, of course, it won't explode. Human tissue is not an elastic balloon and is not as fragile as brushwood.
Will the person freeze?
Contrary to ideas, a person who finds himself in space without a spacesuit will not turn into ice and will not instantly freeze, since space is a vacuum, not cold and not hot, heat is transmitted there only by radiation, and for a person it is negligible. A person will feel cool, and water will evaporate from the surface of the body. Instant freezing is definitely not a threat to a person - in the absence of an atmosphere, heat will be removed from the body very slowly
Will the liquids boil?
The blood of a person who is in space without a spacesuit will definitely not boil, since if the external pressure drops to zero at a blood pressure of 120/80, the boiling point of blood will be 46 degrees, which is higher than body temperature. Blood, in contrast to the same saliva, is in a closed system, veins and blood vessels allow it to be in a liquid state even at low pressure.
Water, unlike blood, will begin to evaporate quickly, and from all surfaces of the body, including the eyes. Also, boiling water in soft tissues will approximately double the volume of some organs and damage organs. It is also believed that a person, being in a vacuum, may feel the signs of decompression sickness, but this is unlikely, since the pressure difference will be only one atmosphere.
Will the man catch fire?
On fire - will not light up, but it can burn. There is no UV protection in space. All exposed areas of the body exposed to direct sunlight will develop ultraviolet burns.
Will the man suffocate?
Yes, the person will suffocate. After about 30 seconds, he will lose consciousness, since, as we know, he will have to exhale the air, the person will experience a state of deep hypoxia. Loss of orientation and vision will occur.
However, if within a minute and a half a person is nevertheless placed in an oxygen chamber, then, most likely, he will come to his senses.
In the history of astronautics, there were several precedents when a person experienced depressurization in space. On August 19, 1960, astronaut Joseph Kittinger made a jump from a height of 31,300 meters. Kittinger's right glove was not sealed, causing the hand to become severely swollen and sore. In 1965, an American astronaut was in a vacuum chamber, he lost consciousness after 14 seconds. He remembered that during this time saliva boiled on his tongue.
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The science
Modern cinema and science fiction books about space often confuse us, presenting many facts distorted... Of course, you cannot believe everything that you see on the screen or read on the Internet, but some delusions are so deeply rooted in our minds that it is difficult for us to believe that in fact everything is somewhat different.
For example, what do you think will happen if a person turns out to be in open space without a spacesuit? His blood will boil and evaporate, he will be developed into small pieces or maybe he will turn into a piece of ice?
Many believe that the Sun is a ball blazing with fire, Mercury is the hottest planet in the solar system, and space probes were sent only to Mars. How things really are?
Man in space without a spacesuit
Myth # 1: A man without a spacesuit will explode in outer space
This is probably one of the oldest and most widespread myths. It is believed that if a person suddenly finds himself in open space without a special protective suit, his just rip apart.
There is logic in this, because there is no pressure in space, so if a person flies too high, he will be inflated like a balloon and he will burst. However, in reality, our body is not at all as elastic as a balloon. We cannot be torn apart in space, because our body is too elastic... We may be a little swollen, this is true, but our bones, skin and other organs are not so fragile as to be torn apart in an instant.
In reality, several people were exposed to incredibly low pressure during their work in space. In 1966, an astronaut was testing a space suit when a depressurization occurred at altitude. more than 36 kilometers... He lost consciousness, but did not explode at all, and later fully recovered.
Myth # 2: A man without a spacesuit will freeze in outer space
This misconception is fueled by many movies. In many of them, you can see a scene in which one of the heroes is outside the spaceship without a spacesuit. He's right there starts to freeze, and if it stays in outer space for a certain time, it will simply turn into an ice. In reality, everything will happen exactly the opposite. In outer space, you will not overcool at all, but overheat.
Myth # 3: Human blood will boil in outer space
This myth stems from the fact that the boiling point of any liquid is directly related to the pressure of the environment. The higher the pressure, the higher the boiling point and vice versa. This is because liquids are easier to turn into gas when the pressure is lower... Therefore, it would be logical to assume that in space, where there is no pressure, liquids will immediately boil and evaporate, including human blood.
Amstrong Line- the value at which atmospheric pressure is so low that liquids evaporate at a temperature, equal to our body temperature... However, this does not happen with blood.
For example, body fluids, such as saliva or tears, actually evaporate. A man who experienced on himself what low pressure is at an altitude of 36 kilometers, said that his mouth was really dry, as all saliva has evaporated... Blood, unlike saliva, is in a closed system, and the veins allow it to remain liquid even at very low pressures.
Myth # 4: The sun is a blazing ball
The sun is a space object that receives a lot of attention in the study of astronomy. It is a huge fireball around which the planets revolve. It is on ideal distance for life from our planet, giving enough warmth.
Many people misunderstand the Sun, believing that it really burns with a bright flame, like a fire. In reality, this is a large gas ball that gives light and heat thanks to nuclear fusion which occurs when two hydrogen atoms combine to form helium.
Black holes in space
Myth # 5: Black holes are funnel-shaped.
Many people think of black holes as giant funnels... This is how these objects are often portrayed in films. In reality, black holes are actually "invisible", but to give you an idea of them, artists often depict them as whirlpools that swallow everything around.
In the center of the whirlpool is something that looks like entrance to the underworld... A real black hole resembles a ball. As such, there is no "hole" in it that tightens. It's just very high gravity object, which attracts everything that is nearby.
Comet tail
Myth 6: a comet has a burning tail
Imagine a comet for a second. Chances are your imagination will draw piece of ice flying at high speed through space and leaving behind a bright trail.
Unlike meteors, which flash in the atmosphere and die, the comet boasts a tail at all. not due to friction... Moreover, it does not collapse at all while traveling in space. Her tail is formed thanks to warmth and solar wind, which melt the ice, and dust particles fly away from the comet's body in the direction opposite to its motion.
Temperature on Mercury
Myth # 7: Mercury is closest to the Sun, which means it is the hottest planet
After Pluto was struck off the list of planets in the solar system, the smallest of these, Mercury began to be considered. This planet is closest to the Sun, so it can be assumed that it is the hottest. However, this is not the case. Moreover, Mercury is actually comparatively cold.
The maximum temperature on Mercury is 427 degrees Celsius... If this temperature were observed on the entire surface of the planet, even then Mercury would be colder than Venus, whose surface temperature is 460 degrees Celsius.
Even though Venus is in the distance 49889664 kilometers from the Sun, it has such a high temperature thanks to an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which traps heat near the surface. Mercury does not have such an atmosphere.
Besides the lack of an atmosphere, there is another reason why Mercury is a relatively cold planet. It's all about its movement and orbit. Mercury makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 88 Earth days, and makes a full revolution around its axis in 58 Earth days... This means that the night on Mercury lasts 58 Earth days, so the temperature on the side that is in the shade drops to minus 173 degrees Celsius.
Spacecraft launches
Myth # 8: Man only sent spaceships to the surface of Mars
Everyone, of course, has heard of the rover "Curiosity" and his important scientific work, which he is doing while on the surface of Mars today. Probably, many have forgotten that the Red Planet other devices were also sent.
Rover "Opportunity" landed on Mars in 2003. It was expected to work no more than 90 days, however, this device is still in working order, although it has already been 10 years!
Many believe that we we can never launch spacecraft to work on the surface of other planets. Of course, man has sent various satellites into the orbits of the planets, but getting to the surface and landing safely is not an easy task.
However, there were attempts. Between 1970 and 1984 The USSR successfully launched 8 spacecraft to Venus. The atmosphere of this planet is extremely unfriendly, so all the ships worked there for a very short time. Longest stay - only 2 hours, this is even more than scientists expected.
Also, the person got to more distant planets, for example, to Jupiter. This planet is almost entirely composed of gas, so landing on it in the usual sense is somewhat difficult. Scientists still sent an apparatus to her.
In 1989, a spaceship "Galileo" flew to Jupiter to study this giant planet and its moons. This journey took 14 years... For 6 years the Apparatus diligently fulfilled its mission, and then was dropped on Jupiter.
He managed to send important information about the composition of the planet, as well as a number of other data that allowed scientists to reconsider their ideas about the formation of planets. Also another ship called "Juno" now on the way to the giant. It is planned that he will reach the planet only after 3 years.
Zero gravity in space
Myth # 9: Astronauts orbiting the Earth are in zero gravity
Real weightlessness or micro-gravity exists far in space, however, not a single person has yet been able to experience it on their own skin, since none of us so far did not fly too far from the planet.
Many are convinced that astronauts, working in space, soar in zero gravity because they are far from the planet and do not experience the Earth's gravity. However, it is not. Earth's pull at such a relatively short distance, it still exists.
When an object revolves around a large cosmic body like Earth, which has a lot of gravity, that object actually falls. Since the Earth is constantly moving, spaceships do not fall on its surface, but also move. This constant fall creates the illusion of weightlessness..
Astronauts in the same way fall inside their ships but since the ship is moving at the same speed, they seem to be floating in zero gravity.
A similar phenomenon can be seen in a falling elevator or a sharply descending plane... By the way, scenes with weightlessness in the picture Apollo 13 filmed in the descent liner, which is used to train astronauts.
The plane rises to the height 9 thousand meters, and then begins to plummet during 23 seconds, thereby creating zero gravity inside the cabin. This is the state that astronauts experience in space.
What is the height of the earth's atmosphere?
Heating or cooling occurs either through contact with a cold external environment or through heat radiation.
There is no medium in a vacuum, there is nothing to contact with. To be more precise, there is a very rarefied gas in a vacuum, which, due to its rarefaction, gives a very weak effect. In a thermos, the vacuum is used just to keep warm! Without contact with a cold substance, the hero will not experience the scalding cold at all.
It will take a long time to freeze
As for radiation, the human body, once it gets into a vacuum, will gradually give off heat by radiation. In a thermos, the walls of the flask are mirrored to keep the radiation out. This process is quite slow. Even if the astronaut is not wearing a spacesuit, but there is clothing, it will help to keep warm.
Will it be fried?
But you can sunbathe. If it happens in space near a star, then you can get sunburn on exposed skin - like from excessive sunburn on the beach. If it happens somewhere in Earth's orbit, then the effect will be stronger than on the beach, since there is no atmosphere that protects from the harsh ultraviolet radiation. 10 seconds is enough for a burn. But nevertheless, this is also not a scalding heat, besides, clothes should also protect. And if we are talking about a hole in a spacesuit or a crack in a helmet, then there is no need to worry about this topic.
Boiling saliva
The boiling point of liquids depends on pressure. The lower the pressure, the lower the boiling point. Therefore, in a vacuum, liquids will evaporate. This was discovered in experiments - not immediately, but saliva boils, since the pressure is almost zero, and the temperature of the tongue is 36 ° C. Apparently, the same will happen with all mucous membranes (in the eyes, in the lungs) - they will dry out, unless new mucus comes from the body.
By the way, if you take not just a liquid film, but a large volume of water, then, probably, there will be an effect like that of “dry ice”: evaporation from the outside, heat is quickly lost with evaporation, due to this, the inner part freezes. It can be assumed that a ball of water in space will partially evaporate, and the rest will turn into a piece of ice.
Will the blood boil?
Elastic skin, blood vessels, heart will create enough pressure so that nothing boils. The effect of champagne is also not expected. Scuba divers have such a nuisance as decompression sickness. The reason is what happens to the champagne bottle. In addition to boiling, there is also a dissolution of gases in the blood. When the pressure drops, the gases turn into bubbles. Dissolved carbon dioxide comes out in champagne, and nitrogen in scuba divers. But this effect occurs at large pressure drops - at least in a few atmospheres. And when it enters a vacuum, the difference is only one atmosphere. The article does not say anything on this topic, no symptoms are described - apparently, this is not enough.
Will the air burst from the inside?
It is assumed that the victim will exhale it - and therefore will not tear it apart. And if he doesn't exhale? Let's assess the threat. Let the pressure of 1 atm be maintained in the spacesuit. This is 10 kg per square centimeter. If a person tries to hold his breath, then a soft palate rises in the path of the air. If there is an area of at least 2 × 2 cm, then a load of 40 kg will turn out. It is unlikely that the soft palate will withstand - a person will exhale himself, like a deflated ball.
Will the man suffocate?
This is the main and real threat. There is nothing to breathe. How many people can survive without air? Trained divers - a few minutes, untrained person - no more than a minute. But! This is on inhalation, when the lungs are full of air with residual oxygen. And there, remember, you have to exhale. How long can an ordinary person hold out on exhalation? Seconds 30. But! On exhalation, the lungs do not "shrink" to the end, a little oxygen remains. In space, apparently, oxygen will remain even less (how much can be retained). The specific time after which a person will lose consciousness from suffocation is known - about 14 seconds.
But a person still has 10 seconds in a vacuum!
Human will not freeze instantly
Cooling or heating occurs as a result of heat radiation, or contact with a cold external environment.
In space, in a vacuum, there is nothing to contact, there is neither cold nor hot external environment. There is only a very rarefied gas. In thermoses, for example, a vacuum is used to keep warm. A person without a spacesuit will not feel the scalding cold, since he will not come into contact with the cold substance.
It will take a long time to freeze
Human body being caught in vacuum, will gradually begin to give up its heat through radiation. The walls of the thermos flask are made mirrored in order to keep the heat as long as possible. The process of heat release is rather slow. Therefore, even in the absence of a spacesuit, but in the presence of any clothes, the heat will remain longer.
Cosmic tan
But to sunbathe in outer space very possibly. If a human is in space at a relatively close distance from the star, then a burn may appear on its exposed skin areas, as from excessive sun exposure on the beach. If a person is somewhere in the orbit of our planet, then the effect will be much stronger than on the beach, since there is no atmosphere that protects against the effects of ultraviolet rays. Just ten seconds will be enough for a sufficiently severe burn. But clothes should protect a person in such a situation, and you shouldn't panic about a hole in a helmet or spacesuit either.
Boiling saliva
It is known that boiling temperature liquids directly depends on pressure. Since the lower the pressure level, the correspondingly lower the boiling point. So in a vacuum, liquids will gradually begin to evaporate. This conclusion, scientists were able to draw on the basis of the experiments. Saliva will boil sooner or later, since there is practically no pressure, and the temperature in the mouth is 36 degrees. Most likely, all mucous membranes will face the same fate. If the mucus is not renewed from the body, then the mucous membranes will dry out.
By the way, if you conduct a similar experiment with a large volume of water, the result is different. The dry ice effect will most likely be observed when the inside freezes and the outside evaporates. Presumably the water balloon in outer space will partially freeze and partially evaporate.
Will it boil blood?
From the boil of blood in outer space a person will be able to save his elastic skin, heart and blood vessels. They will create enough pressure to prevent the blood from boiling.
Is it possible " champagne effect»?
Most likely, a person in space will be able to avoid this trouble. Caisson sickness sometimes overtakes scuba divers, as a result of the impact on their body of a sharp drop in pressure. At the same time, gases dissolve in human blood.
This process is similar to what happens in a champagne bottle. As the pressure decreases, the gases turn into small bubbles. In champagne, dissolved carbon dioxide comes out of the liquid, and in the case of scuba divers, nitrogen.
But this effect is observed at pressure drops of several atmospheres. When a person enters a vacuum, there is a drop of only one atmosphere. This is probably not enough to turn blood into champagne.
The air in the lungs will tear
Presumably, the person will exhale the air inside, and therefore will not burst. Is there a chance that you can not exhale the air? Let's say the pressure in a spacesuit is at the level of one atmosphere, which corresponds to ten kilograms per square centimeter. If you try to hold your breath, the soft palate will obstruct the air. If we assume that its area is at least two square centimeters, then a load of forty kilograms is obtained. It is unlikely that the sky will be able to withstand such a load, so that a person will be forced to exhale like a deflating balloon.
Will suffocate human?
This is the main real threat to humans in space, in which there is absolutely nothing to breathe. The most trained divers can survive without air for only a few minutes, and a person without special training can survive for about a minute. But these numbers are correct for holding air during inhalation. And in space, a person will have to exhale, as we noted earlier.
On exhalation, a person can hold out for thirty seconds. And even less in space. The time after which a person will lose consciousness from suffocation is known - it is approximately fourteen seconds.
Since we have already started talking about space, we should remember about astrology. By clicking on the link, you can not only read astrological forecasts for the signs of the Zodiac, but also get a lot of useful information on the astrologers forum.
Perhaps one of the oldest and most widespread myths about space sounds like this: in the airless space of space, any person will explode without a special spacesuit. The logic is that since there is no pressure there, we would bloat and burst like a balloon that was inflated too much. It may surprise you, but humans are much more durable than balloons. We do not burst when we are injected, and we do not burst in space - our bodies are too tough for a vacuum. Let's swell a little, it's a fact. But our bones, skin, and other organs are resilient enough to survive this unless someone actively tears them apart. In fact, some people have already experienced extremely low pressure conditions while working on space missions. In 1966, a man was testing a spacesuit and suddenly decompression to 36,500 meters. He passed out, but did not explode. Even survived and fully recovered.
People freeze
This misconception is often exploited. How many of you have not seen someone find themselves overboard a spaceship without a suit? It quickly freezes, and if not returned back, it turns into an icicle and floats away. In reality, the opposite is happening. You will not freeze if you get into space; on the contrary, you will overheat. The water above the heat source will heat up, rise, cool down and again over again. But in space there is nothing that could accept the heat of water, which means that cooling to freezing point is impossible. Your body will work by producing heat. True, by the time you become unbearably hot, you will already be dead.
The blood boils
This myth has nothing to do with the fact that your body will overheat if you find yourself in an airless space. Instead, it is directly related to the fact that any liquid has a direct relationship with the pressure of the environment. The higher the pressure, the higher the boiling point, and vice versa. Because it is easier for liquids to convert to gas. People with logic can guess that in space, where there is no pressure at all, liquid will boil, and blood is also liquid. The Armstrong Line runs where the atmospheric pressure is so low that the liquid will boil at room temperature. The problem is, if liquid boils in space, blood won't. Other liquids, such as saliva, will boil in your mouth. The man who was decompressed at 36,500 meters said that saliva "boiled" his tongue. This boil will be more like blow drying. However, blood, unlike saliva, is in a closed system, and your veins will keep it liquid under pressure. Even if you are in a complete vacuum, the fact that the blood is trapped in the system means that it will not turn into gas and escape.
The sun is where space exploration begins. This is a large fireball around which all the planets revolve, which is far enough away, but it warms us and does not burn us. Considering that we could not exist without sunshine and heat, the big misconception about the sun can be considered surprising: that it is burning. If you've ever burned yourself with a flame, congratulations, you got more fire than the sun could give you. In reality, the Sun is a large ball of gas that emits light and heat energy during nuclear fusion, when two hydrogen atoms form a helium atom. The sun gives light and warmth, but does not give ordinary fire at all. It's just a big and warm light.
are funnels
There is another common misconception that can be attributed to the depiction of black holes in movies and cartoons. Of course, black holes are inherently "invisible", but for audiences like you and me, they are portrayed as sinister whirlpools of fate. They are depicted as two-dimensional funnels with an exit on one side only. In reality, a black hole is a sphere. It doesn't have one side to suck you in, rather it looks like a planet with giant gravity. If you get too close to it from either side, then you will be swallowed up.
Re-entering the atmosphere
We have all seen how spacecraft re-enter the Earth's atmosphere (the so-called re-entering). This is a serious test for the ship; as a rule, its surface is very hot. Many of us think that this is due to friction between the ship and the atmosphere, and this explanation makes sense: as if the ship was surrounded by nothing, and suddenly begins to rub against the atmosphere at a gigantic speed. Of course, everything will heat up. Well, the truth is that less than a percent of the heat is removed to friction during reentry. The main reason for heating is compression, or contraction. As the ship rushes back to Earth, the air it passes through contracts and surrounds the ship. This is called a bow shock. The air that hits the ship's head pushes it. The speed of what is happening causes the air to heat up with no time for decompression or cooling. Although some of the heat is absorbed by the heat shield, it is the air around the apparatus that creates the beautiful images of re-entry into the atmosphere.
Comet tails
Imagine a comet for a second. You will most likely imagine a piece of ice rushing through space with a tail of light or fire behind it. It may come as a surprise to you that the direction of the comet's tail has nothing to do with the direction in which the comet is moving. The point is that the tail of a comet is not the result of friction or destruction of the body. The solar wind heats the comet and melts the ice, so the ice and sand particles fly in the opposite direction to the wind. Therefore, the comet's tail will not necessarily follow it like a train, but it will always be directed away from the sun.
After Pluto's demotion in service, Mercury became the smallest planet. It is also the planet closest to the Sun, so it would be natural to assume that this is the hottest planet in our system. In short, Mercury is a damn cold planet. First, at the hottest point of Mercury, the temperature is 427 degrees Celsius. Even if this temperature persisted throughout the planet, Mercury would still be colder than Venus (460 degrees). The reason Venus, which is almost 50 million kilometers farther from the Sun than Mercury, is warmer lies in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide. Mercury cannot boast of anything.
Another reason has to do with its orbit and rotation. Mercury makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 88 Earth days, and a complete revolution around its axis - in 58 Earth days. Night on the planet lasts 58 days, which gives enough time for temperatures to drop to -173 degrees Celsius.
Probes
Everyone knows that the Curiosity rover is currently engaged in important research work on Mars. But people have forgotten about many of the other probes that we have sent out over the years. The Opportunity rover landed on Mars in 2003 with the goal of carrying out a 90-day mission. After 10 years, it is still working. Many people think that we have never sent probes to planets other than Mars. Yes, we sent many satellites into orbit, but put something on another planet? Between 1970 and 1984, the USSR successfully landed eight probes on the surface of Venus. True, they all burned down, thanks to the unfriendly atmosphere of the planet. The most resilient Venus rover lived for about two hours, much longer than expected.
If we go a little further into space, we will reach Jupiter. For rovers, Jupiter is an even more difficult target than Mars or Venus, as it is made almost entirely of gas, which cannot be driven. But this did not stop the scientists and they sent a probe there. In 1989, the Galileo spacecraft set out to study Jupiter and its moons, which it did for the next 14 years. He also dropped a probe on Jupiter, who sent information about the planet's composition. Although there is another ship on the way to Jupiter, the very first information is invaluable, since at that time the Galileo probe was the only probe that plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere.
Weightlessness
This myth seems so obvious that many people do not want to convince themselves in any way. Satellites, spacecraft, astronauts and more do not experience weightlessness. True weightlessness, or microgravity, does not exist and no one has ever experienced it. Most people are impressed: how is it that astronauts and ships float, because they are far from the Earth and do not experience its gravitational pull. In fact, it is gravity that allows them to float. During a flyby of the Earth or any other celestial body with significant gravity, the object falls. But since the Earth is constantly moving, these objects do not crash into it.
Earth's gravity tries to drag the ship to its surface, but the movement continues, so the object continues to fall. This eternal fall leads to the illusion of weightlessness. Astronauts inside the ship also fall, but it seems as if they are floating. The same condition can be experienced in a falling elevator or an airplane. And you can experience in an airplane falling freely at an altitude of 9000 meters.