From: no-spam@invalid.com   
      
   In article <17953-42E7EF73-25@storefull-3313.bay.webtv.net>,   
    lgalbraith@webtv.net (Lins) wrote:   
      
   > Would anyone remember the scene in 2001: a space odyssey wherein David   
   > Bowman has to basically bust his way back into the spaceship Discovery?   
   >   
   > He's not wearing a helmet and he takes about 5 seconds before he starts   
   > closing the powered door and flooding the room he's blown himself into   
   > with oxygen.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?   
      
   Briefly, no.  NASA and the US Air Force experimented with this in the   
   early 1960s.  No exploding heads, etc.  One has only 10 to 15 seconds of   
   consciousness because oxygen will be pouring out of your lungs into the   
   vacuum, which leads us to the big mistake shown in that sequence.  The   
   astronaut should not have taken a big breath and holding it before   
   blowing the door.  That would have killed him, because his chest would   
   have burst.  If you ever find yourself about to be immersed in vacuum,   
   exhale completely and keep your airway wide open.   
      
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