From: victory@crayne.com   
      
   On Mon, 10 Nov 2003 09:46:16 -0500, "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?  What would really   
   >happen, volumetrically speaking, to the human body?   
   >   
   >Thanks   
      
   There is one problem missed by the answer. As any scuba diver will   
   know, a sudden decrease in pressure around the lungs will cause them   
   to expand and possibly rupture - hence the rule about never holding   
   your breath. A 3% increase in volume is normally considered enough to   
   cause rupture. If it is assumed that the last breath of air filled the   
   lungs with air at normal air pressure (note in a US space suit the   
   pressure is only 1/3 of normal air pressure but in a capsule it's   
   close to normal) then a sudden depressurisation would cause a lung   
   rupture if the person attempted to hold their breath - this would lead   
   to massive air embolisms and death even if the person was returned to   
   normal pressure and plenty of oxygen.   
      
   To survive the accident the hapless victim would need to make sure   
   that their airways were open and their lungs emptied as quickly as   
   possible. Even then it is quite possible that they would develop   
   decompression sickness from the bubbles of dissolved nitrogen that   
   would appear in their blood. Given the short period of vacuum   
   (assuming they survive the exposure) this would probably be minor.   
   There is also a danger of eardrum rupture, and considerable sinus pain   
   from the sudden decrease in pressure.   
      
   David Reidy   
      
   [Posted via Victory Crayne]   
      
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