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Reading that it looks like the EVA would be a big problem due to getting into the suits. Would someone who is smarter than me comment on the feasibility (In ex

Reading that it looks like the EVA would be a big problem due to getting into the suits. Would someone who is smarter than me comment on the feasibility (In extremis) of just jumping across the 6 meter gap unsuited 1 by 1 with the suited rescuers helping? I have read that a human can survive about 30 seconds of vacuum without permanent damage. What if they huffed pure oxygen for a while before making the attempt so their blood was super-oxygenated before breathing out and making the leap? Would the depressurization / repressurization take too long? Would it take too long for the space-suited rescuers to man-handle them into the airlock? (Would they even be able to align airlocks for a straight jump?) It makes me wonder what would have happened if NASA has a set of minimal protection "short-duration" suits with almost nothing more than pressurization and a small oxygen supply for quick excursions (Like, for example, transferring quickly between two craft as if your live depended on it :p )

disposablename 13y ago
Here's a video of Jim LeBlanc's suit depressurizing during a test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO8L9tKR4CY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO8L9tKR4CY
philwelch 13y ago
If you're going to rush a space shuttle into orbit and do a hundred things that have never been done before on a space mission, things like not wearing a space suit during EVA are fairly stupid risks to take.
- rurounijones 13y ago
  If you read the original article one of the comments at the end was from an STS engineer expressing his opinion that it would be impossible (not enough propellent, never mind pilot fatigue) for the rescue shuttle to maintain station keeping for the required amount of time to do proper full suited EVAs. Hence my "In extremis" bit at the beginning before thinking about the feasibility of non-suited. I wasn't asking if it was a good idea (It obviously isn't if it can be avoided)
  - philwelch 13y ago
    More or less impossible than jumping from one space shuttle to another, in space, in shirtsleeves while suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning and surviving?
    - nl 13y ago
      Problems don't get solved by pointing out how difficult they are. Of course it's hard! The whole rescue mission is just about impossible. But this does seem to be one area that isn't explored, and is pretty key to the whole mission. It's worth noting that astronauts on EVA actually have their heads under a lot more air pressure than their bodies.
      - philwelch 13y ago
        I'm just saying that I suspect the people at NASA who wrote this document likely designed the least impossible hypothetical mission after considering a number of approaches, and didn't necessarily write down every approach they considered.
  - XorNot 13y ago
    Going unsuited seems unnecessary - why not grab some reinforced mylar balloons, put the astronauts in them and pressurize, then have the EVA crew shepard them across (possibly on a tether or using the manoeuver packs). Or if the weight can be managed, a more robust option seems like it would be to be weld a coffin-like container that could fit through an airlock, and put life-support on the inside, then wrap it in insulation. Either way, we're not talking about a long term thing here - just something which will keep a person alive long enough to be moved between vehicles. Does make me wonder if you couldn't build some type of inflatable slinky-duct though.
nl 13y ago
Interestingly, it looks like it might not totally be out of the question. severe symptoms such as loss of oxygen in tissue (anoxia) and multiplicative increase of body volume occur within 10 seconds, followed by circulatory failure and flaccid paralysis in about 30 seconds. The lungs also collapse (atelectasis) in this process, but will continue to release water vapour leading to cooling and ice formation in the respiratory tract. A rough estimate is that a human will have about 90 seconds to be recompressed, after which death may be unavoidable. The low pressure outside the body causing rapid de-oxygenation of the blood (hypoxia) is the primary reason for unconsciousness within 14 seconds. In 1965 Jim LeBlanc lost consciousness after approx 15 seconds of being depressurised.[1] I wonder if they could have developed some kind of non-space-suit "bag" that would have been enough for a short excursion like this, and easier to get and out of? I suspect getting through the airlocks at each end would have been the big problem. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exposure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exposure

disposablename 13y ago

Here's a video of Jim LeBlanc's suit depressurizing during a test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO8L9tKR4CY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO8L9tKR4CY

philwelch 13y ago

If you're going to rush a space shuttle into orbit and do a hundred things that have never been done before on a space mission, things like not wearing a space suit during EVA are fairly stupid risks to take.

rurounijones 13y ago
If you read the original article one of the comments at the end was from an STS engineer expressing his opinion that it would be impossible (not enough propellent, never mind pilot fatigue) for the rescue shuttle to maintain station keeping for the required amount of time to do proper full suited EVAs. Hence my "In extremis" bit at the beginning before thinking about the feasibility of non-suited. I wasn't asking if it was a good idea (It obviously isn't if it can be avoided)
- philwelch 13y ago
  More or less impossible than jumping from one space shuttle to another, in space, in shirtsleeves while suffering from carbon dioxide poisoning and surviving?
  - nl 13y ago
    Problems don't get solved by pointing out how difficult they are. Of course it's hard! The whole rescue mission is just about impossible. But this does seem to be one area that isn't explored, and is pretty key to the whole mission. It's worth noting that astronauts on EVA actually have their heads under a lot more air pressure than their bodies.
    - philwelch 13y ago
      I'm just saying that I suspect the people at NASA who wrote this document likely designed the least impossible hypothetical mission after considering a number of approaches, and didn't necessarily write down every approach they considered.
- XorNot 13y ago
  Going unsuited seems unnecessary - why not grab some reinforced mylar balloons, put the astronauts in them and pressurize, then have the EVA crew shepard them across (possibly on a tether or using the manoeuver packs). Or if the weight can be managed, a more robust option seems like it would be to be weld a coffin-like container that could fit through an airlock, and put life-support on the inside, then wrap it in insulation. Either way, we're not talking about a long term thing here - just something which will keep a person alive long enough to be moved between vehicles. Does make me wonder if you couldn't build some type of inflatable slinky-duct though.

nl 13y ago

Interestingly, it looks like it might not totally be out of the question. severe symptoms such as loss of oxygen in tissue (anoxia) and multiplicative increase of body volume occur within 10 seconds, followed by circulatory failure and flaccid paralysis in about 30 seconds. The lungs also collapse (atelectasis) in this process, but will continue to release water vapour leading to cooling and ice formation in the respiratory tract. A rough estimate is that a human will have about 90 seconds to be recompressed, after which death may be unavoidable. The low pressure outside the body causing rapid de-oxygenation of the blood (hypoxia) is the primary reason for unconsciousness within 14 seconds. In 1965 Jim LeBlanc lost consciousness after approx 15 seconds of being depressurised.[1] I wonder if they could have developed some kind of non-space-suit "bag" that would have been enough for a short excursion like this, and easier to get and out of? I suspect getting through the airlocks at each end would have been the big problem. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exposure http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_exposure