I am going to describe what would
happen if a person went into space unprotected from the condition of ~the
interstellar infinite~. 'What happens'
has always intrigued me, and I think that learning about what it's actually
like in space has made me more curious/flabbergasted/horrified about the entire place (sometimes I look around the bus and think "HOW are you not ALL THINKING ABOUT HOW BIG SPACE IS, RIGHT NOW. AND ALWAYS").
Space is a much simpler environment
than the Hollywood presentation. It does not glow in a
blue, hazy light, dispersed throughout these gentle, ponderously drifting balls
of rock. There are no deep synth soundscapes or any high-tech pinging noises. This an unimaginably massive, stark, completely and empty 'space' where once in a while a piece of rock the size of OUR PLANET hurtles by (utterly silently) at 50 million kilometres per hour fueled by billion-year old forces.
What some people think space is like |
What space is like |
What would happen
Space exposure isn't that dangerous, in
small amounts- there was even an instance on a 1991 space flight where a small
metal rod came loose from within an astronaut's suit, moved to his finger and
punctured a small hole in his suit. His skin sealed the tear, and when he
returned to the ship, all he noticed was a small red mark he attributed to
chafing. NUTS, RIGHT?? Even if you were to punch a 1cm2 hole
in an average-sized spacecraft (ie: volume of 10m3) would take
almost 6 minutes to decompress to half-pressure.
Here's a a stunning video of what space
actually looks like from space, for the 15 seconds you'd be conscious. The sad,
sexy jazz soundtrack is a bit much, but the images are amazing.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com/higgins.html
http://www.radiolab.org/blogs/radiolab-blog/2012/oct/08/dark-side-earth/
http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930016767_1993016767.pdf
http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/runaway-planets-are-universe-s-fastest-objects-189329