Punctured Suit


In the beginning when the first guy is stabbed and they drag him out in the open and into another building, is it possible he could survive that? How come he didn't die like the blond towards the end?

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Neck seal on the suit prevents leaks in body of suit from affecting air supply for breathing.

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I thought it was fatal to be exposed to space, like his body would be ripped apart by the difference in pressure and sucked through the rip in his suit like canned cheese.

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Mars has a thin atmosphere. At best, on the surface of the planet, it is 0.6% the density of the Earth's atmosphere at sea level, equal to the air density at 116,000 feet above Earth's surface (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars). It is not as vacuous as outer space, though nearly so. Most screenwriters take liberty and are not accurate in the depiction of the physiological effects of extremely low atmospheric pressure. At about 62,000 feet Earth altitude, the Armstrong Limit is reached, the point at which water boils at 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees F). However, skin and other enclosing tissue prevents rapid expansion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_limit). Blood would boil from exposed wounds and swelling occurs as liquid water evolves into vapor. However, you do not get ripped apart or explode, sucked through the hole in near-zero atmospheric density. "You would survive about a ninety seconds, you wouldn't explode, you would remain conscious for about ten seconds." http://www.geoffreylandis.com/vacuum.html

Therefore, we have the difference between the consequences of helmet compromise versus body suit compromise in extremely low atmospheric density.

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Afaik you would bleed very very badly. But the suits might actually help seal the wound if ripped. At least you could imagine some kind of technology where you have a gel that clots faster than blood.

Generally though, normal air pressure on 1 square centimetre [cm2] exerts the force of about about 1.03 kilograms. So you could imagine something like a hammer and super gluing it to your skin and having it dangle there, pulling at your skin. Basically you get the worst super hickey all over your skin, blood vessels burst and your skin swells, but flesh is still pretty solid. It doesn't tear easily and you don't explode.

Also you wouldn't freeze to death in vacuum, as long as you are in an air tight suit and have a breathing mask, you can't actually get rid of heat. There is no material to transfer heat to so you can only radiate heat away slowly, while your metabolism constantly produces heat.

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