I know space is a vacuum. However, if you were to be in space with a really tight seal around your body except for your hand, would that have any adverse effects on that part of your body?
In: Physics
That exact thing happened for Joe Kittinger in 1960. It was in a high altitude balloon flight with a pressure suit. It was at 100 000feet the pressure there is 1% of the pressure at sea level so that is not a significant difference from a perfect vacuum for an exposed human hand.
His right glow sprung a leek during ascent. The suit was designed so it would have a pressure seal around the wrist if the glow leaked. He did not tell the ground crew because he suspected that the instruction would be to abort.
I am not sure when it started to leak but the ascent took one and a half hour and he then stayed at peak altitude for 12 minutes so the balloon drifted to the landing site. The decent took 4 minutes 36 seconds. So his hand was in practical Vaccum for at least 12 minutes I would guess that half an hour is a better minimum estimation.
The result was severe pain and a hand he could not use. It swelled to twice the normal size. The hand returned to normal 3 hours later.
I suppose that the has was still in a glow so the swelling was limited to the size of the glow but it was at zero pressure. What would happen to longer time exposure or without any glow is had to know but extreme swelling of a hand for hours would like not to be good for it.
[https://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-kittinger-1960-space-sky-diver-2012-10?r=US&IR=T](https://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-kittinger-1960-space-sky-diver-2012-10?r=US&IR=T)
[https://www.history.com/news/joe-kittingers-death-defying-leap-from-the-edge-of-space](https://www.history.com/news/joe-kittingers-death-defying-leap-from-the-edge-of-space)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excelsior](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Excelsior)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kittinger)
Humans have even survived full-body exposure to vacuum for a short time. in 1966 a suite failed in a vacuum chamber test and Jim LeBlanc was exposed to vacuum. He remained conscious for 14 seconds and recalled the feeling of his saliva boiling of how to tongue. The vacuum chamber was rapidly pressurized and he was given oxygen 25s after the failure. He recovered immediately with an earache and no permanent damage.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_spaceflight_on_the_human_body#Vacuum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_spaceflight_on_the_human_body#Vacuum)
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