Blasted into Space

[Aunt Jen]

Okay: so you're in space, and the hull ruptures.

 

What happens to the human body?

 

My guess us it's NOT like "Outland," with Sran Connery. More: the pressure differential would cause DTs, but not before 13 seconds when u pass out due to lack of oxygen.

 

Biggest problem: don't hold your breath. Or your lungs explode, make you wish you were Ripley.

[Aunt Jen]

Think Star Trek

[Sedalia Dave]

Saw a documentary on early space program where they interviewed a person whose pressure suit failed while in a vacuum chamber. He reported that he could feel the saliva boil on his tongue right before he passed out. They performed an emergency re-presurization and he survived but IIRC he had a lot of ruptured blood vessels and other injuries similar to the bends

[Aunt Jen]

WOW. He is something.

 

Out shines the Struck by Lightning club

[Sedalia Dave]

 

In 1966, Jim, Le Blanc, a NASA spacesuit technician was inside vacuum chamber at the Manned Spaceflight Center (now Johnson Space Center in Houston) when his Apollo-type suit lost pressure due to an oxygen hose becoming unhooked. At the time of the accident, the chamber was only at a pressure equivalent to what is found at an altitude of 46,000 meters (150,000 ft), and fellow workers scrambled to repressurize the chamber and rescue Le Blanc. Even at 15,000 meters (50,000 ft) loss of suit pressure can result in internal injury and possible death within just a few minutes. Le Blanc said before he passed out, he felt the saliva on his tongue start to bubble.

Clifford Hess quickly repressurized the chamber, doing in only one minute what normally takes about 30 minutes. Hess and others were given special commendations by Dr. Robert Gilruth, the director of the MSC, for their efforts at rescuing Le Blanc.

Story about the incident is on page 3 http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/roundups/issues/67-01-06.pdf

 

BTW I was mistaken about his injuries. The only injury Mr. Le Blanc suffered from his ordeal was an ear ache. A very lucky man

 

Here is a video clip with recreated and actual footage.

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

Those test subjects, pilots, astronauts, and engineers of the early space program truly had "The Right Stuff".

[Aunt Jen]

Truly, they did have the right stuff, and as an engineer, Painless was one of them (SR-71, U-2, a la Edwards AFB and Area 51). (That stuff is no longer classified as I've been to two lectures at Oshkosh on it, one by a colonel, one by a general.) Not the Apollo program, but impressive to me. I'm a real fan.

[Sparky Nelson]

Depending on the size of the rupture and the volume of the pressurized portion of the ship, it may take hours for enough air to leak out to change the internal pressure significantly. In a small compartment or a space suit the air may only last for seconds.

 

There's a really cool (if you're a space geek) Web site called Atomic Rockets that goes into lots on detail on space flight. They have an article called "How Space Kills You":

 

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/lifesupport.php#id--How_Space_Kills_You

 

If you're dumped out an airlock it's a race to see which will kill you first: the bends, sunburn, or lack of oxygen. You'll lose consciousness after about ten seconds, which is probably still too long to be awake for most of these things. But you will not explode in a puff of red vapor like in Outland. (I think the working title for the movie must have been "Eat Space, Sucker!")

 

For what it's worth, Atomic Rockets also has some discussion on what kind of weapons could be used on a space ship to repel boarders while not actually destroying the ship. Your .45 Colt is a very bad idea, but a shotgun loaded with birdshot might be a good choice.

[Aunt Jen]

tks

[Trailrider #896]

Depending on the size of the rupture and the volume of the pressurized portion of the ship, it may take hours for enough air to leak out to change the internal pressure significantly. In a small compartment or a space suit the air may only last for seconds.

 

There's a really cool (if you're a space geek) Web site called Atomic Rockets that goes into lots on detail on space flight. They have an article called "How Space Kills You":

 

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/lifesupport.php#id--How_Space_Kills_You

 

If you're dumped out an airlock it's a race to see which will kill you first: the bends, sunburn, or lack of oxygen. You'll lose consciousness after about ten seconds, which is probably still too long to be awake for most of these things. But you will not explode in a puff of red vapor like in Outland. (I think the working title for the movie must have been "Eat Space, Sucker!")

 

For what it's worth, Atomic Rockets also has some discussion on what kind of weapons could be used on a space ship to repel boarders while not actually destroying the ship. Your .45 Colt is a very bad idea, but a shotgun loaded with birdshot might be a good choice.

In point of fact, it is reported that Russian cosmonauts actually had a shotgun aboard the Mir space station! Can't recall if that was in case one of them went bonkers...or, more likely, in case the Soyuz spacecraft landed somewhere outside the target area, and they were threatened by packs of wolves! The Mir space station actually suffered a hull rupture when one of the spacecraft approaching it crashed into the station! The crew was able to evacuate to an undamaged area. I'm not sure they ever got the leak entirely repaired before the station was acutally abandoned...much later. Everybody assumes the danger to astronauts on an EVA is tearing the suit or getting hit by a meteor. But, it turns out one of the astronauts nearly drowned from water leaking into his helmet from a malfunctioning valve in the cooling system! And, although they've checked the suits out since then, on the most recent EVA, one of the astronauts reported some water in the padding behind his head! (NASA please note: We need some newer suits and maybe some upgrade in the designs!)

[Aunt Jen]

I'd like to see us develop a greater outer space presence, stations, Lagrange points, moon, and Mars.

 

The Apollo missions stimulated a lot of national pride and also quite a bit of industry, as I recall.

 

We could have a bake sale...

[Utah Bob #35998]

I'd like to see us develop a greater outer space presence, stations, Lagrange points, moon, and Mars.

The Apollo missions stimulated a lot of national pride and also quite a bit of industry, as I recall.

We could have a bake sale...

I'd be shocked if we see anything like that in my lifetime. There just doesn't seem to be any heart in it nationally. Some projects might be done by private companies but alas, not our government. Sad. In 1969 I thought we'd have folks living on the moon by now.

[Aunt Jen]

It was magnificent, wasn't it? Watching a human being descend the Lander to step onto the moon---in OUR lifetime?

 

What a marvelous time to live.

 

I, too, thought we'd have moon bases by now.

 

We have conspiracy theorists who say we never went. Where are ones to say we're still there?

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

I started working at North American Aviation part time in Engineering while I was in college. After I graduated I worked full time on the Apollo and Saturn Programs. As a young kid, I was really impressed with the NASA people that we worked with. Took me awhile to realize they were mortals like the rest of us. (But that's another story)

 

I spent 40 years working in aerospace and got to really understand how we take ideas and make them into reality. The most interesting for me was the Space Shuttle and B2 Bomber Programs. It was a wonderful, exciting career that I am thankful I got to be involved in so many great programs with so many great people!

[Sedalia Dave]

In point of fact, it is reported that Russian cosmonauts actually had a shotgun aboard the Mir space station! Can't recall if that was in case one of them went bonkers...or, more likely, in case the Soyuz spacecraft landed somewhere outside the target area, and they were threatened by packs of wolves!

Here you go TP-82

 

 

The TP-82 pistol (Russian: ТП-82) was a triple-barreled Soviet firearm that was carried by cosmonauts on space missions.

It was intended as a survival aid to be used after landings and before recovery in the Siberian wilderness. The upper two smoothbore barrels used 12.5×70 mm ammunition (32 gauge), and the lower rifled barrel used 5.45×39mm ammunition. The pistol could be used for hunting, to defend against predators and for visible and audible distress signals. The detachable buttstock was also a machete that came with a canvas sheath.

TP-82s were carried regularly on Soviet and Russian space missions from 1986 to 2006. They were part of the Soyuz Portable Emergency-Survival Kit (Носимый аварийный запас, Nosimyi Avariynyi Zapas, NAZ). In 2007, the media reported that the remaining ammunition for the TP-82 had become unusable and that a regular semi-automatic pistol would be used on future missions.

[Elk Creek LeMieux]

Truly, they did have the right stuff, and as an engineer, Painless was one of them (SR-71, U-2, a la Edwards AFB and Area 51). (That stuff is no longer classified as I've been to two lectures at Oshkosh on it, one by a colonel, one by a general.) Not the Apollo program, but impressive to me. I'm a real fan.

My Grandpa was one of the engineers for the 71 engines...

 

He never talked about anything though.

[Sedalia Dave]

Back about 2004 or so I spent 2 weeks in Houston at the Johnson Space Center The program I was on was using their facilities to collect telemetry data from an F-18 flying over the Gulf. Jet was supersonic and skimming the water making for a hard target to lock onto and track automatically. After two unsuccessful days, our NASA support team moved us to a different building and got us some expert help.

 

Wound up with a group of senior NASA Engineers that got their start on the Gemini and Apollo programs. The guy doing the tracking could manually follow the aircraft like it was right outside and not way out over the Gulf. We got all our test data and managed to complete the testing on schedule thanks to people well schooled in doing things without computers.

 

The stories and unpublished history we got to hear were amazing. That two weeks was the high lite of the 2 years I spent working on AESA radars.

 

Just wish I could have spent one day out on the oil rigs we flew by every day. Bet that Super Hornet was a sight to see skimming the water at 1500 fps.

[Aunt Jen]

Ah! Painless Potter (hubby) worked at the Skunk Works 33 years, engineering flight test, P-38, all Connie variants, "Sweater Girl," C-130, P-3 ... U-2, SR-71, Burbank, Edwards....becoming Dept Manager of EFT .....

 

He spoke like you guys: "Every day I wanted to get to work. I couldn't wait to get to work."

 

And who could blame him.

 

All of you loved this stuff--and of course. It was WONDERFUL!

 

Me? I'm a groupie, a fan, an admirer.

 

Blessings to you all.

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

 

 

Just wish I could have spent one day out on the oil rigs we flew by every day. Bet that Super Hornet was a sight to see skimming the water at 1500 fps.

I worked on the Super Hornet F18-E & F and it is really a great plane. It was sold to Congress as just another model variant, but in actuality it is almost another plane. Larger & faster and shares almost none of the earlier F18 parts.

[Sparky Nelson]

He spoke like you guys: "Every day I wanted to get to work. I couldn't wait to get to work."

 

A doctor, a lawyer, and an engineer from Jet Propulsion Laboratories are sitting in a bar chatting. The conversation turns into a debate over which is better, a wife or a girlfriend.

 

"Obviously, having a wife is better," says the doctor. "The health benefits of being married are well documented."

 

"But during a divorce all that goes out the window, along with most of your possessions," says the lawyer. "It's much simpler to have a girlfriend."

 

"Actually, it's better to have both," says the engineer. The other two men stare at him, jaws agape. "No, really! Your wife thinks you're with your girlfriend, and your girlfriend thinks you're with your wife, so you can go to the lab and get some work done."

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

A JPL engineer is walking down the street when a frog by the sidewalk says, "If you kiss me, I'll become a beautiful woman and grant your every wish." The JPL engineer puts the frog in his pocket and keeps walking.

 

After a few minutes the frog asks, "Don't you want to kiss me?"

 

The JPL engineer shrugs his shoulders and says, "I'd rather be at the lab. And besides, a talking frog is pretty cool."