How long can you survive in space (vacuum) without pressure suit?

AI Thread Summary
Surviving in the vacuum of space without a pressure suit poses immediate dangers, primarily due to the inability to breathe. Holding one’s breath can lead to organ rupture from pressure differences, necessitating immediate exhalation. The sensation on bare skin in space is difficult to define due to the lack of air and extreme temperatures, which are influenced by background radiation. While one might survive for 10-20 seconds before losing consciousness from hypoxia, the risks of physical trauma remain significant. Overall, survival in space without proper gear is extremely limited and dangerous.
LennoxLewis
Messages
129
Reaction score
1
I know that formally, space is not a vacuum due to quantum fluctuations and what not, but let's neglect those for the moment. Let's say you go from an environment at room temperature and atmospheric pressure to space rather quickly.

How would it feel to the bare skin? Background radiation says the space' temperature is only a few Kelvin, but since it's (almost) empty, you could say its temperature is undefined... hence... how would it feel? If we assume this was the only problem in survival, how long would it take to cool down?


Of course, breathing is the biggest problem. If you hold your breath, organs will explode due to the pressure difference, and you'll encounter the same problem with a scuba diving breathing mask, no matter what mixture (?).

So, the only option is to immediately exhale. Would pressure problems still destroy you or could you enjoy 10-20 seconds in space before passing out from hypoxia?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Ah, sorry for flooding the board. I'll do a search first next time. Admin can delete this thread. Thanks.
 
Hi there, im studying nanoscience at the university in Basel. Today I looked at the topic of intertial and non-inertial reference frames and the existence of fictitious forces. I understand that you call forces real in physics if they appear in interplay. Meaning that a force is real when there is the "actio" partner to the "reactio" partner. If this condition is not satisfied the force is not real. I also understand that if you specifically look at non-inertial reference frames you can...
I have recently been really interested in the derivation of Hamiltons Principle. On my research I found that with the term ##m \cdot \frac{d}{dt} (\frac{dr}{dt} \cdot \delta r) = 0## (1) one may derivate ##\delta \int (T - V) dt = 0## (2). The derivation itself I understood quiet good, but what I don't understand is where the equation (1) came from, because in my research it was just given and not derived from anywhere. Does anybody know where (1) comes from or why from it the...
Back
Top