[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?

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Let's not forget that you'll come down with one hell of a case of hypothermia, given that the average surface temperature on Mars is -56 deg C -- and that you'll also come down with one hell of a case of sunburn even given Mars' greater distance from the Sun, since it has no ozone layer. Fun all around. Clearly Martian Streaking will be one of the major sports of the future Solar System-wide civilization.

[Bob Shaw]

Let's not forget that you'll come down with one hell of a case of hypothermia, given that the average surface temperature on Mars is -56 deg C -- and that you'll also come down with one hell of a case of sunburn even given Mars' greater distance from the Sun, since it has no ozone layer. Fun all around. Clearly Martian Streaking will be one of the major sports of the future Solar System-wide civilization.

Bruce:

No, hypothermia won't be a problem - look at the fun and games that silly boys get up to at the south pole on Earth. You're talking about a few seconds of exposure in an environment where heat transfer is all about radiation (no wind to chill you) and, in any case, hypothermia is all about core body temperatures!

As for the UV... ...would 30 seconds worth of exposure burn you, especially if you'd splashed factor 20 sun blocker all over you?

I'd be more concerned about an allergic reaction to Martian dust, to be honest!

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

[dvandorn]

I'd be more concerned about an allergic reaction to Martian dust, to be honest!

With all of those powerful oxidants (perhaps peroxides) so ubiquitous in Martian soils, I'm wondering what will happen the first time some of that dust hits the mucous membranes of a human being's nose and mouth.

At any rate, with all those sulphates around, the dust will likely stink to high heaven. If you want to colonize Mars, you better be able to get used to the smell of rotten eggs...

-the other Doug

[Bob Shaw]

I think a lot of the fluff around about water boiling away on the surface of Mars, or people's blood boiling if exposed to zero pressure, goes back to two things: bad early science-fiction, and that photograph (taken at Holloman AFB?) of the guy in the pressure suit in the evacuated chamber, holding a beaker of water which is furiously boiling. Right or wrong, those are the cultural memes which have infected us!

Bob Shaw

[JRehling]

I don't know how many ghoulish incidents there are that have accidentally probed this issue for us, but I recall the incident in October 1999 in which a plane carrying golfer Payne Stewart and four others took off from Orlando, then apparently depressurized, killing them while the plane remained on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed in South Dakota. Not much is known about the incident because the crash destroyed everything, but it seemed to be a case where sudden exposure to the atmosphere at 30,000 to 39,000 feet left the pilot without recourse to radio anyone on the ground before losing consciousness. Of course, he may have been distracted by other aspects of the situation and realized that calling the ground wasn't going to benefit the plane in the short run.

I read in a report on that incident that at 39,000 feet, the duration of one's consciousness is about 6-12 seconds. Once that last breath got pulled from your lungs, your streak across the surface of Mars might go sour pretty fast.

Another note: people have summited Everest without bottled oxygen. Now imagine you did have bottled oxygen; that would give you the same partial pressure as those climbers face at a pressure of only 70 millibars. And those climbers, of course, are doing something VERY HARD at the same time. It would seem to me that if you had 70 millibars of pure oxygen (or partial pressure thereof, and not enough CO2 to foul you up), you could go for a stroll, or maybe even a strenuous hike. When I say, "You", of course, I mean an elite high-altitude climber.