Why don't spacemen get the Bends?
Question
How come if we go deep sea diving, you have to be careful coming back up in case you get The Bends. But how come astronauts don’t decompress when they come back from space? I’ve never heard of spaceman’s bends!
Tom, Putney
Answer
** Definitive **
Name: James, Clapham
Qualification: Doctor and advanced qualified scuba diver
Answer: The reason you have to decompress when diving to avoid getting the bends is that when you dive you are exposed to a higher pressure, which forces nitrogen into your blood. And then if you come up too quickly, the nitrogen comes out of your blood quickly and causes bubbles rather than individual nitrogen atoms and the bubbles are hazardous. When you’re in space, you’re in a self-contained pressurised shuttle, even doing a space walk, so you’re never exposed to a pressure differential. (And if you were in space, your blood would actually boil, not be compressed, as there is no pressure rather than high pressure).