What will happen to a person in a vacuum? Is it possible to survive in outer space without a space suit. What will happen in outer space without a spacesuit

1. During the first 10-15 seconds, you remain conscious and feel the moisture evaporate from the tongue.
The same thing happens with the entire surface of the body - as with heavy sweating.
Therefore, in an airless space, a person feels icy cold.

2. Attacks of nausea and vomiting are possible, as gases from the stomach and intestines are rapidly pushed out.
(Note: it is better to refrain from soda and hot sauces before spacewalk).

3. If the Eustachian tubes in the ears are clogged with earwax or something else,
then there may be problems with the inner ear, if not - everything is in order.

4. The heart rate rises sharply, then gradually falls, just like blood pressure.
Venous pressure steadily increases as gas bubbles form in the body.

5. The body may swell up to twice its normal size, the skin is stretched,
unless, of course, you're wearing a tight, stretchy suit.

6. According to the Data Collection on space biology»,
fine-fitting elastic clothing can completely prevent the formation of gas bubbles
when the pressure drops to 15 torr (millimeters of mercury).
For comparison: normal Atmosphere pressure- 760 Torr, and the pressure on the surface of the Moon is about 10–11 Torr.
Blood boils at 47 torr. The body swells due to the fact that the liquid in the soft tissues passes into a gaseous state.
However, the skin is strong enough to withstand this pressure.
So you won't be torn apart, you'll just bloat like balloon.

7. As the body expels vapor through the nose and mouth, and the fluid content in the body is reduced,
you feel more and more cold. Mouth and tongue become icy.

8. If, with all this, you also find yourself under straight lines sunbeams(without special protective equipment),
you will get a severe sunburn.

9. Due to the lack of oxygen, the skin acquires a bluish-purple hue, known as cyanosis.

10. The brain and heart remain in relative order for about 90 seconds.
When the blood pressure drops to 47 Torr, the blood begins to boil and the heart gradually stops.
After that, nothing will help you.

11. But if the pressure is restored in time, the body will gradually return to normal.
True, for some time you will lose your sight and the ability to move. But over time, both functions will be restored.
In addition, for several days you will not feel the taste of food.

12. On the other hand, if you hold your breath or try to
air escape during sudden decompression in some other way,
then “an increase in intrapulmonary pressure will lead to such a strong expansion
chest, which can cause ruptures in the lungs and destruction of capillaries.
The trapped air is forced out of the lungs into chest, and penetrates through damaged blood vessels
directly into the general circulation. And through the bloodstream, air bubbles spread already throughout the body.
and can easily reach vital organs such as the heart and brain.”
Something similar can happen during decompression on board an aircraft flying to high altitude.
If this happens, remember that you should never hold your breath.

The science

Modern cinema and fantasy books about space often confuse us, presenting many facts distorted. Of course, you can’t believe everything that you see on the screen or read on the Internet, but some delusions are so firmly entrenched in our minds that it’s hard for us to believe that in reality everything is somewhat different.

For example, what do you think will happen if a person is in open space without space suit? Will his blood boil and evaporate, will he develop into small pieces, or maybe he will turn into a block of ice?

Many believe that the Sun is a ball of fire, Mercury is the hottest planet solar system, and space probes were sent only to Mars. How are things really?

A man in space without a spacesuit

Myth #1: A man without a space suit will explode in outer space.

This is probably one of the oldest and most widespread myths. There is an opinion that if a person suddenly finds himself in outer space without a special protective suit, his just tear it apart.

There is logic in this, because there is no pressure in space, so if a person flies too high, he will inflate like a balloon and burst. However, in fact, our body is not at all as elastic as balloon. We can't be torn apart in space, because our body is too elastic. We may get a little bloated, it is true, but our bones, skin and other organs are not so fragile that they burst into pieces in an instant.

In reality, several people have been exposed to incredibly low pressure during their work in space. In 1966, an astronaut tested space suit when a depressurization occurred at a height over 36 kilometers. He lost consciousness, but did not explode at all, and later fully recovered.

Myth #2: A person without a space suit will freeze in outer space.

This misconception is fueled by many movies. In many of them you can see a scene in which one of the characters is outside spaceship without a spacesuit. He is right there starts to get cold, and if he stays in outer space certain time, just turn into ice. In reality, everything will happen exactly the opposite. In outer space, you will not get cold at all, but overheat.

Myth #3: Human blood will boil in outer space

This myth stems from the fact that the boiling point of any liquid is directly related to pressure. environment. The higher the pressure, the higher the boiling point and vice versa. This happens because it is easier for liquids to turn into gases when the pressure is lower. Therefore, it would be logical to assume that in space, where there is no pressure, liquids will immediately boil and evaporate, including human blood.

Armstrong line is the value at which atmospheric pressure is so low that liquids evaporate at a temperature equal to our body temperature. However, this does not happen with blood.

For example, body fluids, such as saliva or tears, do evaporate. A man who experienced first hand what low pressure is at an altitude of 36 kilometers said that his mouth was really dry, as all the saliva has evaporated. Blood, unlike saliva, is in a closed system, and veins allow it to remain liquid even at very low pressure.

Myth #4: The sun is a flaming ball

The sun is a cosmic object that receives a lot of attention in the study of astronomy. This is a huge fireball around which the planets revolve. He is on ideal living distance from our planet, giving enough heat.

Many misunderstand the Sun, believing that it really burns with a bright flame, like a fire. In reality, this is a large gas ball that gives light and heat thanks to nuclear fusion, which occurs when two hydrogen atoms combine to form helium.

Black holes in space

Myth #5: Black holes are funnel-shaped.

Many people think of black holes as giant funnels. This is how these objects are often depicted in movies. In reality, black holes are actually "invisible", but to give you an idea of ​​them, artists often depict them as whirlpools that swallow everything around.

At the center of the whirlpool is something that looks like entrance to other world . A real black hole resembles a ball. There is no "hole" as such, which draws in. It's just object with very high gravity, which attracts everything that is nearby.

comet tail

Myth #6: A comet has a burning tail.

Imagine for a second a comet. Most likely, your imagination will draw piece of ice flying on high speed through outer space and leaving behind a bright trail.

Unlike meteors, which flare up in the atmosphere and die, a comet can boast of having a tail at all. not due to friction. Moreover, it is not destroyed at all, traveling in space. Her tail is formed by heat and solar wind, which melt the ice, and dust particles fly off the comet's body in the direction opposite to its movement.

Temperature on Mercury

Myth #7: Mercury is closest to the Sun, which means it's the hottest planet.

After Pluto was removed from the list of planets in the solar system, the smallest of these, Mercury began to be considered. This planet is closest to the Sun, so it can be assumed that it is the hottest. However, this is not true. Moreover, Mercury is actually comparatively cold.

The maximum temperature on Mercury is 427 degrees Celsius. If this temperature were observed over the entire surface of the planet, even then Mercury would be colder than Venus, whose surface temperature is 460 degrees Celsius.

Even though Venus is at a distance 49889664 kilometers from the Sun, it has such high temperature thanks to an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, which traps heat near the surface. Mercury has no such atmosphere.

In addition to the lack of an atmosphere, there is another reason why Mercury is relatively cold planet. It's all about its movement and orbit. Mercury completes one revolution around the Sun in 88 earth days, and makes a complete revolution around its axis in 58 earth days. This means that the night on Mercury lasts 58 Earth days, so the temperature on the side that is in the shadow drops to minus 173 degrees Celsius.

Spacecraft launches

Myth #8: Humans have only sent spaceships to the surface of Mars.

Everyone, of course, heard about the rover "Curiosity" and his important scientific work, which he performs while on the surface of Mars today. Probably, many have forgotten that the Red Planet sent other devices.

rover "Opportunity" landed on Mars in 2003. It was expected to work no more than 90 days, but this device is still in working order, although 10 years have passed!

Many people think that we can never run spacecraft to work on the surface of other planets. Of course, man sent various satellites into the orbits of the planets, but getting to the surface and landing safely is not an easy task.

However, there have been attempts. Between 1970 and 1984 The USSR successfully launched 8 devices to Venus. The atmosphere of this planet is extremely inhospitable, so all the ships worked there for a very short time. Longest stay - only 2 hours This is even more than scientists expected.

Also, the person got to more distant planets, for example, to Jupiter. This planet is almost entirely composed of gas, so landing on it in the usual sense is somewhat difficult. Scientists still sent a device to her.

In 1989 the spacecraft "Galileo" flew to Jupiter to study this giant planet and its moons. This journey took 14 years old. For 6 years the Apparatus diligently carried out its mission, and then it was dropped on Jupiter.

He managed to send important information about the composition of the planet, as well as a number of other data that allowed scientists to reconsider their ideas about the formation of planets. Also another ship called "Juno" now on the way to the giant. It is planned that he will reach the planet only after 3 years.

Weightlessness in space

Myth #9: Astronauts in Earth orbit are in zero gravity.

Real weightlessness or micro-gravity exists far in space, however, not a single person has yet been able to experience it in his own skin, since not one of us has yet did not fly too far from the planet.

Many are sure that astronauts, working in space, hover in weightlessness because they are far from the planet and do not experience the Earth's gravity. However, it is not. Earth's gravity still exists at such a relatively short distance.

When an object revolves around such a large cosmic body like the Earth, which has a lot of gravity, this object is actually falling. Since the Earth is constantly moving, spaceships do not fall on its surface, but also move. This constant fall creates the illusion of weightlessness..

astronauts in the same way fall inside their ships, but since the ship is moving at the same speed, they seem to float in zero gravity.

A similar phenomenon can be seen in a falling elevator or a sharply descending plane. By the way, the scenes with weightlessness in the picture "Apollo 13" filmed in a descending liner, which is used to train astronauts.

The plane is ascending 9 thousand meters, and then begins to fall sharply during 23 seconds, thereby creating weightlessness inside the cabin. This is exactly the state experienced by astronauts in space.

What is the height of the earth's atmosphere?

Within 10 seconds, a person floating in space will be able to maintain a sober mind and the ability to think. The heart will still beat.

Remember sci-fi movies about space? Every time the next hero, for whatever reason, like an explosion of a spaceship, falls into an airless space with a damaged spacesuit or without it at all, the directors present us with shots of a person instantly freezing, or a person exploding into pieces. His veins swell, his eyes protrude unnaturally from their sockets, or his body turns to ice in a couple of seconds. The poor fellow can, according to their idea, even catch fire! But what will happen to a real living person if he actually flies into space naked or with a spacesuit helmet pierced? How long can he stay alive and does he have any chance of survival?

Having taken off into outer space, a person will immediately experience a sudden decompression caused by a drop in external pressure. More precisely, its absence from the outside at all. With a pressure drop in the spacesuit of 1 atmosphere, our soft sky load will be 40 kg. A person, with all the desire, will not be able to hold back the air, and will be forced to exhale it. If the air from the lungs is not released for some exceptional reason during the first seconds of being in space, they can simply burst or large air bubbles will enter the bloodstream. All this will lead to instant death.

In the absence of the usual atmospheric pressure, moisture will suddenly begin to evaporate from the surface of the eyes and mouth. The heart will speed up its rhythm, which will then gradually fall along with blood pressure. In the absence of external pressure, the boiling point of human blood at normal internal pressure will be 46 degrees. Therefore, the blood of a person who finds himself in space without a spacesuit will not boil. Since the blood is in a closed system, the veins and vessels allow it to be in a liquid state at low pressure. Evaporate or boil, unlike, for example, saliva, she will not be able to.

But the water in the muscles and soft tissues is subject to this process. Therefore, the tissues of the human body can swell and approximately double in size. The expansion will cause numerous capillary ruptures. After a few seconds, nitrogen in the blood will begin to form gas bubbles. Of course, a person can feel all the signs of decompression sickness, but this is unlikely, since the pressure drop will be tighter than 1 atmosphere. But you can get burns at 100%. In this, science fiction writers are right, however, exaggerating this phenomenon in their own way in the form of burning the body to embers. direct solar radiation will create ultraviolet burns on the surface of the skin.

Despite the terrible cold, the absence of an atmosphere will not allow heat to leave the body instantly. It will cool down gradually, while the skin of a person can only feel coolness. Space is a vacuum, heat in it is transmitted only by radiation, and it is negligible for a person. But the "icy cosmic abyss" is not an image, it really exists.

Within 10 seconds, a person floating in space will be able to maintain a sober mind and the ability to think. The heart will still beat. After that, the brain will begin to experience an acute lack of oxygen. A person will lose sight and orientation in space. If within 1.5 minutes he is pulled out of the abyss and placed in an oxygen chamber, he will be able to come to his senses. If not, then oxygen will completely leave the blood and escape into space, which will lead to deep hypoxia. Complete loss of consciousness will occur a few seconds later. Due to the lack of oxygen, the skin will take on a bluish-purple hue. In science, this effect is called cyanosis. After more than 90 seconds from the moment a person enters outer space, he will die.

The survival time of a person in outer space is measured in minutes. In this, the science fiction writers turned out to be wrong, describing all the incredible deaths of their characters in a fraction of a second. If a person is brought back to a place with oxygen and normal atmospheric pressure within a couple of minutes, he can be saved. However, for some time she will lose her sight and the ability to move. For several days he will not be able to taste food.

There are many myths about what can happen to a person who finds himself in outer space without a protective suit. There is various versions, but today you will find out which of them are really probable and which are just fiction.

A person will not freeze instantly

Cooling or heating occurs as a result of thermal radiation, or contact with a cold external environment.

In space, in a vacuum, there was nothing to contact, there is neither cold nor hot external environment. There is only a very rarefied gas. In thermoses, for example, vacuum is used to retain heat. A person without a space suit will not feel a burning cold, since he will not come into contact with a cold substance.

It will take a long time to freeze

The human body, once in a vacuum, will gradually begin to give off its heat through radiation. The walls of the thermos flask are made mirrored in order to retain heat as long as possible. The process of heat transfer is rather slow. Therefore, even in the absence of a spacesuit, but in the presence of any clothing, heat will remain longer.

space tan

But getting a tan in space is very possible. If a person ended up in space for a relatively close range from a star, then his exposed skin may burn, as from excessive exposure to the sun on the beach. If a person is somewhere in the orbit of our planet, then the effect will be much stronger than on the beach, since there is no atmosphere that protects against exposure to ultraviolet rays. Just ten seconds will be enough to get a fairly severe burn. But clothing should protect a person in such a situation, and you should not panic about a hole in a helmet or in a spacesuit either.

Boiling saliva

It is known that the boiling point of liquids is directly dependent on pressure. Since the lower the pressure level, the lower the boiling point, respectively. So in a vacuum, liquids will gradually begin to evaporate. Scientists were able to draw such a conclusion on the basis of the experiments. Saliva will boil sooner or later, since there is practically no pressure, and the temperature in the mouth is 36 degrees. Most likely, all mucous membranes will face the same fate. If the mucus is not renewed from the body, then the mucous membranes will dry out.

By the way, if you conduct a similar experiment with a large volume of water, the result is expected to be different. The effect of dry ice will most likely be observed when inner part freezes and outer part evaporates. Presumably water ball in space it will partially freeze and partially evaporate.

Will the blood boil?

Elastic skin, heart and blood vessels can protect a person from boiling blood in space. They will create enough pressure to prevent the blood from boiling.

Is the "champagne effect" possible?

Most likely, a person in space can avoid this trouble. Decompression sickness sometimes overtakes scuba divers, as a result of the impact on their body of a sharp decrease in pressure. In this case, the dissolution of gases in human blood occurs.

This process is similar to what happens in a bottle of champagne. When the pressure is reduced, the gases turn into small bubbles. In champagne, dissolved carbon dioxide comes out of the liquid, and in the case of scuba divers, nitrogen.

But this effect is observed at pressure drops of several atmospheres. When a person enters a vacuum, there is a drop of just one atmosphere. This is probably not enough to turn blood into champagne.

The air in the lungs will tear

Presumably, a person will exhale the air that is inside, and therefore it will not burst. Is there a possibility that you can not exhale air? Let's say that in a spacesuit the pressure is at the level of one atmosphere, this corresponds to ten kilograms per square centimeter. When you try to hold your breath, the air will be blocked by the soft palate. If we assume that its area is at least two square centimeters, then we get a load of forty kilograms. It is unlikely that the sky can withstand such a load, so the person will be forced to exhale like a deflating balloon.

Will the person suffocate?

This is the main real threat for a man in space, in which there is absolutely nothing to breathe. The most trained divers can survive without air for only a few minutes, and a person without special training- about a minute. But these figures are true for holding air on inspiration. And in space, a person will have to exhale, as we noted earlier.

On exhalation, a person can hold out for thirty seconds. And even less so in space. The time after which a person will lose consciousness from suffocation is known - it is approximately fourteen seconds.

Among all the possible ways to die, for science fiction writers, death in space stands apart. What we have not seen enough in films about space: and cracks in spacesuits, and explosions at orbital stations, and even attacks by aliens. All this, of course, is deadly threat for astronauts, but which one? What will happen in outer space to a man without a spacesuit? Some argue that a person will instantly freeze to death, others, on the contrary, that his blood will begin to boil, others say that astronauts will completely explode from low pressure. Let's try to figure it out.

The human body will explode in outer space

A fairly popular theory based on the fact that the air pressure inside the lungs will tear a person apart, since there is almost zero pressure in space. Actually this is not true. There is indeed virtually zero pressure in space, but our skin is elastic enough to withstand the pressure. internal organs from within. As for air, the vacuum in outer space will cause it to escape almost instantly. All the air from the lungs will immediately leave the body through Airways, and it is better not to resist. Trying to hold your breath will cause the escaping air to injure your lungs.

In addition to the air from the lungs, a person will also lose gases from the stomach and intestines, and these processes will look especially unpleasant.

Human blood will boil due to low pressure

It would seem, what is the connection between low pressure in space and boiling blood? But in fact there is a connection. The lower the atmospheric pressure, the lower the boiling point of the liquid. For example, at the peak of Mount Everest, where atmospheric pressure is much lower than in other places on the planet, water boils at a temperature of about 70 ° C. It is reliably known that a person who has fallen into outer space without a spacesuit will instantly boil saliva. This does not mean that it will heat up to 100˚С, but it means that in conditions of open space, the temperature of our body (36˚С) is quite enough for the liquid to boil and evaporate.

All of the above applies to fluids that are affected by the vacuum of space (saliva, sweat, moisture on the eyes), but has nothing to do with blood. Everything that is inside a person will be normal, since the skin and blood vessels will create sufficient pressure so that nothing boils there at body temperature.

A person will instantly turn into an icicle

Another popular theory based on the fact that the temperature in space is about -270C. But this hypothesis is not true either. It is really very cold in space, but you will not turn into an ice cube thanks to the same space vacuum. Since there is “nothing” in space, there is nothing to give off heat, respectively. Despite this, your body will still begin to lose heat through radiation, but this is a rather long process from which you will not die.

How long can you last without a spacesuit in outer space

After the above denials, you might get the impression that a man in space does not need a spacesuit at all. But, of course, it is not. A man without a spacesuit will die pretty quickly in outer space and we will try to explain why.

1. The main problem in outer space is the lack of oxygen, due to the lack of which you will lose consciousness in 10-15 seconds. The statement seems dubious, especially considering that each of us can hold our breath for at least 30 seconds. The point is that when we stop breathing on Earth, we have some air left in our lungs, which keeps us going for a while. In space, however, things are quite different. Space vacuum "sucks out" absolutely all the oxygen, "shrinking" the lungs. Moreover, as soon as the body is deprived of air, the lungs will begin to work in the opposite direction, pumping oxygen out of the blood, which will further bring oxygen starvation.
2. Due to the lack of external pressure, some of the external blood vessels (for example, those in the eyes) will begin to burst in a person and the skin will swell.
3. As we have already said, saliva and moisture in front of your eyes will begin to boil and evaporate.
4. Exposed areas of the body will receive severe burns from ultraviolet radiation Sun.

All of the above symptoms will occur after 10 seconds of being in outer space. Scientists believe that A 30-second stay in space without a space suit will not cause serious problems with health, but after 1-2 minutes, the damage will become irreversible.