From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article <17953-42E7EF73-25@storefull-3313.bay.webtv.net>,   
   Lins  wrote:   
   >...So basically he's in orbit above Jupiter,or thereabouts,for   
   >at least 5 seconds without a helmet.   
   >What I am wondering is this: wouldn't his head have been freeze dried   
   >instantly? Or wouldn't the vacuum have done something horrible to it?   
      
   Nope.  Not quickly.  His big problem is simply that with vacuum in his   
   lungs, he only has maybe 15 seconds of consciousness left -- the time it   
   takes blood to get from his lungs, through the left side of his heart, to   
   his brain.   
      
   It was tried in the 60s, deliberately on animals and once accidentally on   
   a spacesuit technician (early in Apollo suit development).  The first   
   significant event is passing out when the deoxygenated blood reaches your   
   brain.  All other effects are much slower.  If you're repressurized within   
   maybe 30 seconds total, there seems to be no permanent injury.   
   --   
   "Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer   
                                   -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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