[X] My Assistant

[Rem31]

Can you walk on Mars (without) protection spacesuit? I think it is possible because it is only my thought. Is this true?

[Rem31]

How long takes it before i die ,when i step on Mars without a pressuresuit? Is it painfull? And what about bloodboiling? I think that the blood in the body is going to boil when stepped (unprotected) on Mars. Can you explain this?

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

How long takes it before i die ,when i step on Mars without a pressuresuit? Is it painfull? And what about bloodboiling? I think that the blood in the body is going to boil when stepped (unprotected) on Mars. Can you explain this?

No, your blood won't boil -- Arthur C. Clarke laid that cliche to rest in a story called "Take A Deep Breath" all the way back in the mid-1950s (which was later used as the basis for David Bowman's spacesuit-less return to his ship's airlock in "2001"). And as early as 1964, the Air Force did some vacuum chamber experiments on chimps (naturally) establishing that they could survive as long as 1-2 minutes in a vacuum without serious brain damage. (No word on how many chimps they killed or maimed while learning this.) But, while your blood certainly won't boil, it is fatal after a very short time -- and I imagine it's pretty painful.

Bruce:


I *do* like the idea of Martian streaking, though. Or Lunar Streaking. Sorta puts a whole new light on how the unmanned spaceflight community should respond to the triumphal opening (by President-for-Life Dubya IV) of the 'Neil 'n' Buzz' theme park in 2069...

Oh, I'm gonna have nightmares now...

Bob Shaw

Yes, particularly if I'm in them.

[ljk4-1]

No, your blood won't boil -- Arthur C. Clarke laid that cliche to rest in a story called "Take A Deep Breath" all the way back in the mid-1950s (which was later used as the basis for David Bowman's spacesuit-less return to his ship's airlock in "2001"). And as early as 1964, the Air Force did some vacuum chamber experiments on chimps (naturally) establishing that they could survive as long as 1-2 minutes in a vacuum without serious brain damage. (No word on how many chimps they killed or maimed while learning this.) But, while your blood certainly won't boil, it is fatal after a very short time -- and I imagine it's pretty painful.
Yes, particularly if I'm in them.

Speaking of Mr. Clarke, he also wrote a story not too long ago about an
actual running race on the Moon. The main character wore a skin-tight
suit so that he could run faster.

Knowing how ACC tries to be as scientificially and technically accurate as
possible, does anyone who has the story handy have the details on how it
was made and how it kept the occupant pressurized? Thanks.

[paxdan]

Speaking of Mr. Clarke, he also wrote a story not too long ago about an
actual running race on the Moon. The main character wore a skin-tight
suit so that he could run faster.

Knowing how ACC tries to be as scientificially and technically accurate as
possible, does anyone who has the story handy have the details on how it
was made and how it kept the occupant pressurized? Thanks.

The story was "the hammer of god" and the character was 'Robert Singh'

it is a skin suit with a bubble helmet designed only for use at night... from p46.

'sheathed in two body-tight garments - one active, one passive. the inner one made of cotton, enclosed him from neck to ankle, and carried a closely packed network of narrow, porous tubes, to carry away perspiration and excess heat. Over that was the tough but extremely flexiable protective outer suit, made of a rubber like material, and fastened by a ring-seal to a helmet."

he gets frost bitten feet and is beaten at the last by Robert Steel (a robot).

Don't forget that the ultimate culmination of Kim Steanley Robinson's Mars Terraform epic -- after "Blue Mars" -- is the collection of short stories that might be called "White Mars", in which the process goes wrong and refreezes the planet (albeit with a thick atmosphere this time). At the end of that book, they're still trying to figure out how to straighten out the mess again.

The collection of short stories by KSR is called 'The Martians'. The culmination of that is a short called 'Purple Mars' in which the terraforming has been successfull.

'White Mars' was written by Brian Aldiss in collabaration with Roger Penrose and was very much a retort to KSR's mega terraforming.


Gregory Benford's "The Matian Race" contains a section where a character runs from a ruptured greenhouse to a Hab in Martian conditions. It was a highlight of the book.

[mcaplinger]

The collection of short stories by KSR is called 'The Martians'.

It's also not necessarily connected to the Mars trilogy. The novella "Green Mars" which is collected in THE MARTIANS is in something of an alternate universe from that of the trilogy, according to KSR.