In space no one can hear you smell?

[abomination]

The liner thread has got me thinking. If there was a disaster & people didn't get to the lifeboats that might have been provided. Would they decompose & if so how?

What would the rescue teams find?

Are the bacteria anerobic / capable of living in a vacuum? Certainly things like flies & maggots aren't.

Yes I am in a particularly morbid mood today.

 

[abomination]

Ooh interesting. Guess who's bored at work this afternoon.

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html

http://www.geoffreylandis.com/vacuum.html

 

[aramis]

Decomposition will continue as long as the temp remains in right range, I suspect. At least until the body ruptures.

 

[Sturn]

Thanks for the links Abomination. Copy and pasted one of them to a house rule research folder of mine. Very good specifics for a game. 5-10 seconds unconscious, 60-90 seconds death, no chance of normal resucitation after 90 seconds.

Looks like science does support some chace of survival, especially if your chosen game system allows characters to act in rounds involving seconds of time. I had always thought many of the game rules allowing survival for a bit in vac were just a game gimic to allow players characters a fighting chance. Guess not.

 

[Trent]

The title of this thread remind me of this:http://funny.funnyoldplanet.com/funny/in-space-no-one-can-hear-you-fart/

 

[Icosahedron]

AFAIK, most of the bacteria involved in decomposition are anaerobic. Decomposition generally takes place from the inside out. I imagine the discovered results would be very similar to arctic discoveries with similar cold, dry environments; the bodies would be mummified and maybe covered in a residual frost from the freezing of the last moisture to reach the surface. OTOH, the frost may sublime into the environment over time?

Farts would dissipate rapidly in a vacuum - as opposed to a space-suit.

 

[Icosahedron]

Ok, this got me thinking again about a recent thread where we were discussing the merits of high tech elastic vacc suits - but I can't find that thread for some reason, so I'll post here - it's a related topic at least.

How effective do you think a wetsuit would be as a makeshift emergency vacc suit?

 

[aramis]

The westuit will reduce radiation somewhat, but it won't help with breathing much. Nor with sealing a helmet to your shoulders.

You need as much chest/belly pressure as you have lung expansion force from air.

You need a little under 1 psi to prevent swelling.

 

[Trent]

I read a SF novel once where a ship have been ht by a wave of radiation that instantly killed the crew and left the ship intact.

A long time later the ship was boarded and the bodies of the crew were in perfect condition due to the fact ALL bacteria had been killed by the radiation surge, meaning no decomposition.

Don't know if that's possible, but they made it sound plausible.

 

[dean]

I read a SF novel once where a ship have been ht by a wave of radiation that instantly killed the crew and left the ship intact.

A long time later the ship was boarded and the bodies of the crew were in perfect condition due to the fact ALL bacteria had been killed by the radiation surge, meaning no decomposition.

Don't know if that's possible, but they made it sound plausible.

Seems to me if there's enough radiation to go through the hull, into the bodies, and irradiate all of the bacteria that live in and on humans so they all die, then those are going to be some pretty crunchy corpses (as in cooked), burst cells from heat and all that jazz....

 

[ThunderChilde]

Can't remember the title, it was a Terran Battleship, right? The ships computer, lifesupport and other systems were partially disabled by the radiation shockwave of the supernova of um I think it was Rigel, maybe, maybe not. Maybe it was from battle damage, its a bit fuzzy. The main LS component was hydroponics, all dead, and the ship had been slowly leaking, atmo was at a partial pressure too.

Basic plot was along the lines of starfire for warp transit lines, the Super Giant, think it was Rigel, had been a key hub. Anyhow, 3 cruisers were in system when the Super Nova happened and wrecked havok on the warp transit lines, and got stranded. Fast forward, a ship jumps in, and accels out system, when they catch it, viola, all dead.

By the racial diversity of the ship, it was determined to be from earth, as colonies tended to mono culture founding. So they survey the jump point, make transit to a world closer to the Super Nova, find info and I won't go any further in this post.

Is it the same book?

P.S. maybe Antares?

 

[Icosahedron]

The westuit will reduce radiation somewhat, but it won't help with breathing much. Nor with sealing a helmet to your shoulders.

You need as much chest/belly pressure as you have lung expansion force from air.

You need a little under 1 psi to prevent swelling.

Cheers Aramis.

 

[Trent]

Can't remember the title, it was a Terran Battleship, right? The ships computer, lifesupport and other systems were partially disabled by the radiation shockwave of the supernova of um I think it was Rigel, maybe, maybe not. Maybe it was from battle damage, its a bit fuzzy. The main LS component was hydroponics, all dead, and the ship had been slowly leaking, atmo was at a partial pressure too.

Basic plot was along the lines of starfire for warp transit lines, the Super Giant, think it was Rigel, had been a key hub. Anyhow, 3 cruisers were in system when the Super Nova happened and wrecked havok on the warp transit lines, and got stranded. Fast forward, a ship jumps in, and accels out system, when they catch it, viola, all dead.

By the racial diversity of the ship, it was determined to be from earth, as colonies tended to mono culture founding. So they survey the jump point, make transit to a world closer to the Super Nova, find info and I won't go any further in this post.

Is it the same book?

P.S. maybe Antares?

Sounds about right to what I recall.