A flight to remember - escape pod?

[on:]

when the countess de la roca is sucked into the black hole, how the hell does bender just open the pod door and walk in? there didn't appear to be any kind of air lock between him and the vacuum of space   

they should of all been sucked out and died and the show cancelled.

alright, maybe that was a bit harsh, but still      

[Reply #1 on:]

The air doesn't get sucked in instantly?  Maybe they have a min or so with the door open before they die and thats plenty of time for bender to get in.

[Reply #2 on:]

....ok yeah, you go in space and test that theory. 10 bucks says your really fucking wrong.

[Reply #3 on:]

 

Originally posted by zapperdan:
when the countess de la roca is sucked into the black hole, how the hell does bender just open the pod door and walk in? there didn't appear to be any kind of air lock between him and the vacuum of space   

they should of all been sucked out and died and the show cancelled.

That was the joke, Ringo.

[Reply #4 on:]

They also open both doors of the orbiting cemetery airlock simultaneously in Luck of the Fryrish, which would not be a good idea. If it makes you feel better, pretend that there is an emergency force field that doesn't let air through, but allows people (and ships) through. It's a fairly common Sci-fi concept.

[Reply #5 on:]

In 2001 a Space Odyssey which I watched a few weeks ago when it was on tv, the main character man (I don't know what his name was) had to get from the little pod he was in and back into the main ship without his space helmet.  I didn't describe that very well but you would know what i'm talking about if you have seen that movie. I'm not sure what exactly my point is but I wanted to mention it. (I honestly can't be bothered trying to elaborate further any kind of point because i'm lazy like that)

[Reply #6 on:]

Same thing happens in Event Horizon, to great horrific effect.

@Perwain: Air escaping into space is nothing like when you open a door to let some fresh air into your den of geekdom. It gets sucked out very efficiently until the pressure is equalized. Just like an aeroplane when the emergency exits are opened. Only, in space, the pressure is a hell of a lot lower.

[Reply #7 on:]

ie u would get sucked out right?

[Reply #8 on:]

 

Originally posted by zapperdan:
they should of all been sucked out 

Originally posted by Pikka Bird:
It gets sucked out very efficiently until the pressure is equalized.

Just to be nitpickish: the air (and passengers) wouldn't be sucked out by the vacuum, but blown out by the higher pressure inside the shuttle. It's a fairly common misconception though.

[Reply #9 on:]

Yadda, yadda. Centrifugal/centripedal force... I know that nothingness (not actual nothingness, but more nothingness-ish than an escape pod full of air) can't actually suck stuff out into itself, but I made a tiny slip-up.

[Reply #10 on:]

As said, I'm just being a pedantic nitpicker here, originally at zapperdan, you just happened to be caught in the crossfire.   

[Reply #11 on:]

Well, technically, sucking is the creation of a low-pressure environment in order to make a high-pressure environment push something in the direction you want.  A vacuum cleaner creates...well...a vacuum, blowing air out one end so that dirt and debris will be sucked into the other.  When we suck with our mouths, we pull the contents of our mouths out of the way so that something outside it will be drawn into the void so created.

It might be incorrect to say a vacuum pulls things in, but I think it's correct to say it sucks things in.

[Reply #12 on:]

The world is full of words to describe a tidbit in science that we can't be bothered explaining every time the subject comes up. I'm sure it's easier to say "centrifugal force" than explaining the whole centripedal force versus inertia setup, just like I don't want to ramble on about equalizing pressure, when I can just say "suck".

Hasn't this topic been driven into the ground by now?

[Reply #13 on:]

Oh, I'm sure we can drive it a little farther if we try! :P

[Reply #14 on:]

but why try

[Reply #15 on:]

 

Originally posted by Shiny:
Oh, I'm sure we can drive it a little farther if we try! :P

<Hands Shiny a mallet>
Her y'are kiddo; knock yer'self out!  

No! No, don't knock yer'self out with the mallet. Use it to...
Aw, never mind...

[* SpaceCase walks away trying to remove own foot from mouth*]

[Reply #16 on:]

^^^^ LOL

That was so funny SpaceCase.

[Reply #17 on:]

I once pounded myself into the ground like a stake with a mallet....

[Reply #18 on:]

Yes, yes...

[Reply #19 on:]

 

Originally posted by Shiny:
Oh, I'm sure we can drive it a little farther if we try! :P

nobody is trying

[Reply #20 on:]

Except, you know, you...'cause you posted in it.

And me, too now... 

Actually, I've been thinking about this topic (the real topic...you know, Bender coming in the escape pod without blowing all the Titanic survivors out into space? )

There has to be a force field, and actually, that would make sense on a small ship like an escape pod.  An airlock would require a lot of materials, and also take up space into which you could cram more survivors if you had to.  And you'd want some way to get people safely in and out of the pod in small batches (in case you want to transfer people to another ship and there's only a few space suits, etc. ) A force field takes up little space (assuming the device that generates it doesn't) and only requires a great deal of energy.  Possibly airlocks in the future are only a "double safe" feature in case of low energy reserves or force field failure.

This would also explain how Bender could wind down the window of the Robot Mafia's car and make gun noises and still have the Donbot hear them.  (Robots wouldn't need to breathe, of course, but why/how Bender was making sound effects bothered me... ).

Afterthought, added 5/4/05...mechanical airlocks would also save fuel costs on ships that had room enough for the extra space but didn't have ready reserves of extra energy (like a consistent source of solar power; Orbiting Meadows would have that option).  The PE ship is pretty roomy...compared to, say, a submarine.  It's got a laundry room of good size, for heavens' sake.  But it has to refuel regularly. An escape pod, being a short-range ship, could afford to waste energy if it needed to.