From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article ,   
   Chris Wood  wrote:   
   >If a person were suddenly placed in a vacuum, e.g.,   
   >thrown out of a spaceship without a protective/pressure-ized   
   >suit -- a la science fiction movies, would they really pop   
   >like a balloon, or is this an exaggeration?   
      
   It's not merely an exaggeration, it's a myth.  Animal experiments, one   
   test-chamber spacesuit accident, and the Soyuz 11 disaster demonstrated   
   decades ago that nothing much happens when a person is placed in vacuum.   
      
   The first event of note is that after 10-15 seconds, he suddenly loses   
   consciousness due to lack of oxygen.  Some uncertain time later, perhaps a   
   minute, the accumulated brain damage from lack of oxygen is bad enough   
   that he's effectively dead.  (If those numbers sound short, it's because   
   in most comparable accidents on the ground, there is considerable air left   
   in the lungs, and that makes a large difference.)   
      
   Serious physical damage from the lack of pressure takes rather longer than   
   that.  The bodies of the Soyuz 11 crew spent perhaps ten minutes in   
   vacuum, and looked normal enough that the recovery team started CPR.   
   --   
   MOST launched 30 June; first light, 29 July; 5arcsec    | Henry Spencer   
   pointing, 10 Sept; first science, early Oct; all well.  | henry@spsystems.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)