[FPSPACE] Death in space

[Dwayne Allen Day]

On Thu, 21 Sep 2000, Anatoly Zak wrote:

> Nazis did it for aviation-related "research", essentially to test how long
> pilots of high-altitude planes would survive at the low pressure and lack of
> oxygen.  

But the USAF does depressurization tests to familiarize pilots--they
rapidly evacuate the air from a chamber and everyone in it has to get
their air masks on quickly.  Now these tests are monitored closely and it
is not to a total vacuum, but this is common.  It is a part of training.

Given that this stuff has been done in training, I would not be surprised
to learn that tests have been conducted to higher vacuum.  I wonder what
if--as far as the human body is concerned--there is a big difference
between atmospheric pressure at 100K feet (where the SR-71 operated) and
total vacuum.


DDAY