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Subject: 
Re: What do you think would happen if........
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.space
Date: 
Sat, 14 Jun 2003 04:07:14 GMT
Viewed: 
373 times
  
In lugnet.space, David Laswell wrote:
In lugnet.space, Dean R. Hennen wrote:
Hello all,

Some weeks ago I watched a sci-fi Anime series. After watching one of the
episodes I got thinking about this "method of escape".

Here's the Scenario:

Two guys are stuck in a very large, glass-roofed lounge with the ceiling
pointing into outer space. The room is airtight. They can't get out of there
by putting on space suits or hopping on a ship in the hangar because the
places are all sealed off. Their friend comes with his ship, floating about
500 feet above the lounge roof. He drops a rope on a fast-reeling pulley
(you know what I mean) towards the roof. Just before it hits the roof, the
two other guys shoot at the roof, breaking it. The air rushes out as the
rope drops in. They hang on as they are reeled in very quickly. The rushing
air provides a little bit of pressure so they can survive on the way up.
They quickly board the ship, and the pilot (by computer) seals the airtight
door.

Is this possible? Why or Why not?

Sorta...  Contrary to popular belief (and that one Treehouse of Horror ep of
The Simpsons), people do not explode in a vacuum (though their blood vessels
certainly can.  They'll die of asphyxiation while freezing.  It is possible
(though not at all advisable) to survive a brief period in a vacuum, though
you'll likely suffer some permanent eye damage (your tears would pretty much
instantly crystalize, followed not to far behind by your retinal fluid), and
you might lose some fingers/toes due to severe frostbit/ruptured capilaries.
Another problem is that if you suck in a big breath of air and then blow out
the canopy while holding your breath, you _will_ pop your lungs (just ask any
scuba diver for an explanation on that one).

The biggest physics problem here is that they were thrust out from the room
by the explosive decompression, but it sounds like the rope still continued
to drop towards them...against the rush of gas that was strong enough to
chuck them out. No way that would happen.  Then again, who watches anime for
realism?

The most.. er.. believable (in my far-from-scientific mind anyway) rendition of
this kind of 'what-if' scenario that I've come across so far was in the movie
Event Horizon. A character gets himself stuck in an airlock on an unstoppable
'opening' sequence. The character ends up alive, but pretty darn messed up
afterwards. I won't give away the whole sequence, in case anyone reading might
want to go rent the flick and check it out for themselves.

Cheerio,
KMaynes



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: What do you think would happen if........
 
(...) It's been a while since I seen it, but didn't something similar happen in 2001: A Space Oddyssey? When HAL wouldn't let Dave back on, and he had to use the emergency airlock. Remember .spacers, never go out without your helmet :) Michael (...) (21 years ago, 14-Jun-03, to lugnet.space)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: What do you think would happen if........
 
(...) Sorta... Contrary to popular belief (and that one Treehouse of Horror ep of The Simpsons), people do not explode in a vacuum (though their blood vessels certainly can. They'll die of asphyxiation while freezing. It is possible (though not at (...) (21 years ago, 14-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)

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