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[GreatWyrmGold]

((The pressure does not appear to be ripping us apart now- the main other danger seems to be the explosive decompression honestly.))

((You don't know much about vacuum, do you?
No, explosive decompression isn't an issue...but non-explosive decompression is. Rapid changes in ambient pressure are bad for people and other organisms. To start, water will boil with no air pressure, and that's bad for the mucous membranes. There's...also other bad stuff that I'm cursing myself for not remembering, but going rapidly from normal air pressure into vacuum can't be any better than "rapidly" going from deep underwater to normal air pressure--and that can kill people easily.))

[Powder Miner]

((Before you patronize me, I was talking about in-game. I know how pressure works in the real world, but I was referring to the fact that we've not had such issues in-game. Anyway, we're breathing so I assume it's not a total vacuum, and that the air pressures equalized somewhat. What are you advocating to do, anyway, kill two characters off this early in?

Besides, if I'm not mistaken you have spacesuits. Things designed to keep the negative effects of pressure from slaying you, yes?))

[Samarkand]

((The pressure does not appear to be ripping us apart now- the main other danger seems to be the explosive decompression honestly.))

((You don't know much about vacuum, do you?
No, explosive decompression isn't an issue...but non-explosive decompression is. Rapid changes in ambient pressure are bad for people and other organisms. To start, water will boil with no air pressure, and that's bad for the mucous membranes. There's...also other bad stuff that I'm cursing myself for not remembering, but going rapidly from normal air pressure into vacuum can't be any better than "rapidly" going from deep underwater to normal air pressure--and that can kill people easily.))

((If you want a way to think about this that will fit well in an understanding of pressure grounded in reality, just pretend the issue is that the partial pressure of O₂ is low, while the partial pressure of N₂ is such that no physiological damage is done through effects related to total pressure. That seems to me to be what is happening.))

[GreatWyrmGold]

((Before you patronize me, I was talking about in-game. I know how pressure works in the real world, but I was referring to the fact that we've not had such issues in-game.

((Yeah..I have a bit of trouble not using real-world logic in games ignoring such logic. For bonus points, use real-world logic to discuss how the logic-ignoring stuff should work!))

What are you advocating to do, anyway, kill two characters off this early in?

Besides, if I'm not mistaken you have spacesuits. Things designed to keep the negative effects of pressure from slaying you, yes?))

((If we had space suits, we wouldn't be having this discussion. The GM specified we only had masks.))

[Powder Miner]

((...bonus points for Samarkand. Except, wait, the decompression wouldn't occur if the gas had the same number of moles in total as the previous air.))

[Samarkand]

((...bonus points for Samarkand. Except, wait, the decompression wouldn't occur if the gas had the same number of moles in total as the previous air.))

((I only said that the partial pressure of nitrogen gas was such that there were no total pressure effects on our physiology, it could still have been low enough that there would have been fairly violent decompression; there is a fair range of pressures that can be withstood by humans. ))

[Powder Miner]

((Aye, that's what I'd suspected earlier.))

[Aseaheru]

Spoiler: For the list of waiting (click to show/hide)

Name: Everett Owen
Physical appearance/personality : A small, somewhat quirky man with messy hair and a short beard. He is not powerfully built, but what muscles he has are strong from repeated use. Oddly, the muscles on his legs seem to be among the weakest, although they are still seemingly capable of carrying him and some weight.

[Malus]

Spoiler: Air pressure, etc (click to show/hide)

((Just to clarify things a bit, the maintenance and shuttle rooms were pressurized at a lovely 100kPa. The hangar was below 0.5kPa (less than Mars). For purposes of calculation, we can assume this is 0. When the hangar airlock opened, I assumed it went from fully closed to fully open instantaneously to simplify things further (I don't really feel like busting out Bernoulli); net result being that the two rooms reached an equilibrium very quickly. If the hangar were equal in volume to the maintenance room, they'd equalize at 50kPa. This wouldn't really result in much harm unless you're standing in the doorway when the equalization occurs (see: Felicia Hasting). I mean, the explosive decompression is dangerous for your ear drums and lungs, but we hand-wave that because she rolled relatively well (a 6 -- much lower and burst lungs and ear drums are a real possibility)

Simply halving the air pressure isn't enough to cause significant problems for most people: it's equal to flying in an unpressurized aircraft cabin at 5,000 meters. Of course, the hangar is much larger than the maintenance room, so we're not dealing with the air pressure just being halved. If it's low enough that you guys have trouble breathing, but high enough that your eye fluids aren't boiling off, then it needs to be above the Armstrong limit i.e., 6.3kPa. Pressures that low would definitely result in some decompression sickness, but the shuttle has independent life support systems, so there's no reason you couldn't jury rig it into a hyperbaric chamber if someone starts to get the bends (extremely unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely ).

tl;dr: You don't know what pressure the maintenance and hangar are at right now. It's definitely above 6.3kPa and definitely below 50kPa. If you spontaneously open the shuttle (which is at about 100kPa), the pressure will equalize very rapidly (cover your ears), and unless you've got internals you're gonna risk passing out every turn until you get it repressurized. Who's to say that's the only solution, though?))

Spoiler: For the list of waiting (click to show/hide)

Name: Everett Owen
Physical appearance/personality : A small, somewhat quirky man with messy hair and a short beard. He is not powerfully built, but what muscles he has are strong from repeated use. Oddly, the muscles on his legs seem to be among the weakest, although they are still seemingly capable of carrying him and some weight.

((Accepted. I'm not imposing a strict limit of 6 active players; I'd be comfortable with as many as 10. However, the group will need to go out and recruit people ICly. If they meet any NPCs that are particularly cooperative, then I'd be fine with letting waitlisters control them, too.))

[GreatWyrmGold]

((Wait, I thought the hangar was open to space.))

[USEC_OFFICER]

Get internals, and wear them. Wait patiently for the shuttle to launch.

[Pancaek]

"right, yeah, you lot just sit back for now, I'll try and see if I can't do something from this console."

Put on my internals, then see if I can open the hatch from this console and If I can manage the shuttle's pressure systems from the console. Alternatively, and even better, see if I can't repressurize the hangar and maintenance from this console, somehow. Just see if it's possible, don't do any of these, yet

[USEC_OFFICER]

"Of course. I am leaving it in your capable hands."

[Malus]

Argos: Turn 5.5
Bert slides his oxygen mask over his face, then turns back to the consoles.
"Now if I can just remember how to access the shuttle pressure controls," he mutters under his breath, scanning across the countless gauges, meters, and displays.
He spots a 'life support' reading in the corner of the gigantic touch-screen and taps on it, bringing him to a simple menu where he can adjust all of the shuttle's life support systems, including oxygen mix (presently 21%) and internal pressure (presently 100kPa). There's even an option to equalize the internal pressure to the detected external atmospheric pressure -- doubtless useful when landing on alien worlds. External sensors suggest the escape hallway's pressure is 22.9kPa. Because of the significant pressure imbalance, the shuttle's hatch has been locked, but the lock can be overridden if necessary.

[Pancaek]

"Okay, guys, I can manage air and pressure, but only inside the shuttle from here. Who's up for opening the hatch, pulling those two in here and then normalizing everything again?"