In Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bowman is seen exiting the capsule hatch and entering the ship without a helmet or pressurization. It would be possible?
Kubrick, who was an absolute perfectionist, posed this question to the top leaders of NASA and the greatest medical experts. And the answers he got were surprising, so much so that he then proceeded to shoot the scene.
When asked, “Would such a feat be possible?” the answer the experts gave was "Yes, although for a short time."
* Freezing problems: it's true, in space there are around -270°C, but we are in a vacuum, and the vacuum is a terrible conductor of heat: it would be the vacuum itself that prevents us from dissipating the heat instantly. Furthermore, some heat would remain inside the suit, so the sudden loss of it would be limited to the hands and head. A few seconds would be too few to reduce a man like in the film "Mission to Mars".
* Pressure problems: experiments have been carried out, and it has already been established that for a few seconds the skin would be able to retain the swelling of the body due to the lack of external pressure. Probably, a mistake made in the film is that there would be some small lacerations and edema, but nothing fatal.
* Lungs: Bowman is clearly seen emptying his lungs before the hatch exploded. Which is the correct thing to do, as the air in the lungs would undergo a sudden expansion, held back however by the fact that the lungs compete for as little air as possible in the diaphragm.
* Evaporation/Boiling of blood liquids: at zero pressure, blood and body fluids, being hot, would begin to approach the boiling point. But a few seconds would not be enough to reach that boiling point inside the body.
* Eyes, ears and mouth: The most significant damage would probably occur at the level of the eyes, ears and mouth, due to the internal pressure of these organs (eyes and ears) and the fact that the liquids would be in contact with the vacuum (eyes and mouth). These liquids would be immediately subjected to boiling and evaporation, unlike what happens with body fluids. However, your mouth can be kept tightly closed, and so can your eyes, as Bowman did, but the problem would be seeing where you are going to grab the locking handle of the hatch. Perhaps this can be remedied by keeping your eyes as narrow as possible, to allow the liquids to evaporate/boil slower. For the ears, such a sudden drop in pressure would probably cause the eardrums to collapse outwards, and this is perhaps the only real and gross mistake in the movie, unless Bowman had some glues in his emergency suite for quick repairs to the suit, and had created earplugs with them, which, however, are not seen in the movie.
* Embolism: in space the blood would be subjected to a sudden drop in pressure, so all the nitrogen contained in it would tend to create dangerous bubbles circulating in the arteriovenous system. Perhaps this would be the worst enemy, even if it is clear that the embolism would occur about over ten seconds after the shock, so the timing for not having embolism is correct, even if almost at the limit of the available time.
* Radiations: in space, you are not shielded against cosmic radiation: but Bowman is not in open space, but inside the spaceship, and is in any case also protected by the suit on almost the entire surface of his body. Therefore, radiation does not pose a danger for such a short and limited exposure.
So, the conclusion of the analysis is yes, such a feat would be possible, but it would really require a lot of luck, especially in being able to grab the compensation handle and it would leave serious damages to the body, even if not fatal, in the organs in contact with the vacuum, such as eyes and ears. Sure, Bowman wouldn't get off as easily as in the movie, but he'd still survive, at least for a while.
In Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bowman is seen exiting the capsule hatch and entering the ship without a helmet or pressurization. It would be possible?
Kubrick, who was an absolute perfectionist, posed this question to the top leaders of NASA and the greatest medical experts. And the answers he got were surprising, so much so that he then proceeded to shoot the scene.
When asked, “Would such a feat be possible?” the answer the experts gave was "Yes, although for a short time."
* Freezing problems: it's true, in space there are around -270°C, but we are in a vacuum, and the vacuum is a terrible conductor of heat: it would be the vacuum itself that prevents us from dissipating the heat instantly. Furthermore, some heat would remain inside the suit, so the sudden loss of it would be limited to the hands and head. A few seconds would be too few to reduce a man like in the film "Mission to Mars".
* Pressure problems: experiments have been carried out, and it has already been established that for a few seconds the skin would be able to retain the swelling of the body due to the lack of external pressure. Probably, a mistake made in the film is that there would be some small lacerations and edema, but nothing fatal.
* Lungs: Bowman is clearly seen emptying his lungs before the hatch exploded. Which is the correct thing to do, as the air in the lungs would undergo a sudden expansion, held back however by the fact that the lungs compete for as little air as possible in the diaphragm.
* Evaporation/Boiling of blood liquids: at zero pressure, blood and body fluids, being hot, would begin to approach the boiling point. But a few seconds would not be enough to reach that boiling point inside the body.
* Eyes, ears and mouth: The most significant damage would probably occur at the level of the eyes, ears and mouth, due to the internal pressure of these organs (eyes and ears) and the fact that the liquids would be in contact with the vacuum (eyes and mouth). These liquids would be immediately subjected to boiling and evaporation, unlike what happens with body fluids. However, your mouth can be kept tightly closed, and so can your eyes, as Bowman did, but the problem would be seeing where you are going to grab the locking handle of the hatch. Perhaps this can be remedied by keeping your eyes as narrow as possible, to allow the liquids to evaporate/boil slower. For the ears, such a sudden drop in pressure would probably cause the eardrums to collapse outwards, and this is perhaps the only real and gross mistake in the movie, unless Bowman had some glues in his emergency suite for quick repairs to the suit, and had created earplugs with them, which, however, are not seen in the movie.
* Embolism: in space the blood would be subjected to a sudden drop in pressure, so all the nitrogen contained in it would tend to create dangerous bubbles circulating in the arteriovenous system. Perhaps this would be the worst enemy, even if it is clear that the embolism would occur about over ten seconds after the shock, so the timing for not having embolism is correct, even if almost at the limit of the available time.
* Radiations: in space, you are not shielded against cosmic radiation: but Bowman is not in open space, but inside the spaceship, and is in any case also protected by the suit on almost the entire surface of his body. Therefore, radiation does not pose a danger for such a short and limited exposure.
So, the conclusion of the analysis is yes, such a feat would be possible, but it would really require a lot of luck, especially in being able to grab the compensation handle and it would leave serious damages to the body, even if not fatal, in the organs in contact with the vacuum, such as eyes and ears. Sure, Bowman wouldn't get off as easily as in the movie, but he'd still survive, at least for a while.
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