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Link H say: Deep diving is a good analogy. A major problem is that blood gasses come out of solution when the pressure is reduced. So, you could die of "the bends" in space as a result of going outside without a pressure suit. Then, depending on whether you were in shadow or sun, you would either freeze or burn to death. It would probably be very painful.
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Who say: contrary to what you might think
the problem with holding your breath aint lack of oxygen - its build up of CO2
Its build up of CO2 in your blood/lungs that makes you wanna breath = not lack of O2
(you see athletes breathing strongly after a race? - that aint so much they can breath more O2 - its so they can get rid of the CO2 they have built up in the race - i.e the "breathing out" is more important than the "breathing in")
In an "enclosed space" (and holding your breath creates an enclosed space - i.e your lungs+mouth) CO2 build up will kill you quicker than the fall of O2)
so if he does lots of breathing and over-oxygenates his blood with O2 all he has to do is breath out slowly to get rid of the CO2 and he can last a lot longer than holding his breath
the key is to do an absolute minimum of exercise - this preserves the O2 and dont generate as much CO2
Is it possible? - yes
would it have been possible for him to survive long enough as in the film? - Not likely but still possible
would it have been possible following a scientific designed method? - far more likely
but then 2001 is a film - and everybody is more interested in tension in films than scientific reality,
cos the 1st problem would be convincing the audience that what they believe is incorrect but what they see is correct.
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CarolOklaNola say: Scientifically , yes, you COULD survive and your head would and your eyeballs would NOT explode.,.
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