Quick Science Question from TNG Disasters Episode

[Yeoman Randi]

I just finished rewatching TNG's episode called Disasters. At one point, Geordi and Crusher, while trapped in one of the cargo bays, have to put out a fire and get rid of some drums that are giving off radiation. They open the (pod bay, j/k) doors, and decompress the cargo bay. While they are doing that, they have to hold on tightly to a ladder that is built into the bay so that they are not sucked out along with everything else.

My question, and it is possible no one here will really know the answer is this: could a human being really hold on and not get sucked out through the door while decompression is going on? Wouldnt their bodies get sucked off of their limbs, (eww gross) or at least, their strength wouldnt be enough to fight decompression, and really hold onto the ladder?

I realize this was a plot device and all, but the geek in me wants to know if this could really be done. Anyone know?

Thanks!

 

[nx1701g]

I don't think that it's possible for them to hold on like they did. The effect would be too much for their bodies to handle.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

Yeah, thats what i was thinking. I was also wondering, how would their lungs be able to withstand the pressure? In that episode (and in other scifi movies, shows) they are always shown taking deep breaths and then holding one big one in their lungs. But would that really be sufficient? And i would have to think they wouldnt be able to hold on, not with all that intense force pulling them out.

Its these little things that i need to know! Thanks for your reply!

 

[Timo]

Generally, I'd think it would be pretty easy to hold on to a ladder or a console in circumstances like that. After all, the only thing trying to dislodge them would be the weight of the air between them and the back wall; the air between them and the space door would be irrelevant. And they stood mere meters away from the back wall, with plenty of space for the air to pass them. The winds wouldn't get gale-force or anything - and the door seemed to open so quickly that the winds would also die out, or peter out into a whiff, in a matter of seconds.

The rapid decompression would burst their eardrums and perhaps cause some bruising. And it would be better to exhale rather than inhale, too. But Crusher could no doubt repair the damage easily enough with her 24th century medical skills.

What the scene leaves unexplained is why the door had to be opened by pressing a button in one location, but closed by pressing a button in another. Why did our heroes have to move around and endanger their grip of the support fixtures? Surely the "forced door open" and "emergency door close" functions could have been routed to one and the same console...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[captcalhoun]

dramatic tension.

 

[Captrek]

The air pressure trying to push them out into space would have the force equivalent of about a one-ton weight. No, I don’t think any human being in the real world could hold on. However, it is a very common scene in SF, not just in Trek.