Could astronauts get oxygen into their blood via an artificial umbilical cord?

[Boojatta]

Early space vehicles contained pure oxygen, and that approach wasn't abandoned until the foreseeable catastrophe occurred.

Perhaps there would be advantages to going one step more and using neither pure oxygen nor ordinary air throughout spacecraft that carry people.

[Fumesucker]

1. It'd be less restrictive of movement just to pull out a lung and replace it with an oxy bottle..

And an "artificial lung" to do the oxygen/co2 transfer thing..

Umbilical cords are an unmitigated pain in the butt they'll wrap around everything, I've worked with a safety harness enough to know that.

I don't even want to think about dealing with an umbilical cord in free fall.

[Ian David]

2. Because spaceflight isn't already scary enough. n/t

[tgearfanatic234]

9. Exactly. Just sounds wrong and disgusting.

[bananas]

3. Liquid breathing

Liquid breathing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_breathing
Used in the tv show "UFO" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_%28TV_series%29

Liquid breathing is a form of respiration in which a normally air-breathing organism breathes an oxygen-rich liquid (such as a perfluorocarbon), rather than breathing air.

<snip>

Space travel

Liquid immersion provides a way to reduce the physical stress of G forces. Forces applied to fluids are distributed as omnidirectional pressures. Because liquids cannot be practically compressed, they do not change density under high acceleration such as performed in aerial maneuvers or space travel. A person immersed in liquid of the same density as tissue has acceleration forces distributed around the body, rather than applied at a single point such as a seat or harness straps. This principle is used in a new type of G-suit called the Libelle G-suit, which allows aircraft pilots to remain conscious and functioning at more than 10 G acceleration by surrounding them with water in a rigid suit.

Acceleration protection by liquid immersion is limited by the differential density of body tissues and immersion fluid, limiting the utility of this method to about 15 to 20 G.<51> Extending acceleration protection beyond 20 G requires filling the lungs with fluid of density similar to water. An astronaut totally immersed in liquid, with liquid inside all body cavities, will feel little effect from extreme G forces because the forces on a liquid are distributed equally, and in all directions simultaneously. However effects will be felt because of density differences between different body tissues, so an upper acceleration limit still exists.

Liquid breathing for acceleration protection may never be practical because of the difficulty of finding a suitable breathing medium of similar density to water that is compatible with lung tissue. Perfluorocarbon fluids are twice as dense as water, hence unsuitable for this application.<52> On the other hand, although perfluorochemicals are denser than water, lung tissue floats within the PFC filled lungs, and if the lungs are not over-filled, there is no compromise in pulmonary or systemic blood flow.<53> Therefore, if the astronaut is immersed in liquid and their lungs are filled with liquid PFC, they should not experience adverse effects, in spite of the almost twofold density difference. Based on interviews with adult patients that experienced partial liquid ventilation, when they became conscious they were unaware that 20-30 ml/kg of PFC was in their lungs during recovery.

[Bosonic]

4. This UFO?

If the fashion prediction is anything to go by (set in 1980) I'm not sure that's a very reliable reference.

[Confusious]

7. Oh god

Sylvia Anderson said she believed wigs would become accepted components of military uniforms by the 1980s.

[bananas]

8. Yes, but oxygenated liquids are real

If you google you can find photos and videos of live mice completely in these liguids.
One problem is that the mice tend to float, so they are inconspicuously tied down by their tails and "nose up".
It's not a new technology, and has been suggested for deep-size diving to reduce the bends, and for new-borns with breathing problems, preemies, etc.

edit to add a video from Discovery: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACQr0IZIb5I&feature=related

Note the "nose up" position of the mouse, they don't show his tail wrapped around an anchor.
They do show him afterward unharmed returned to the air-breathing world.

[DetlefK]

5. How thick would it have to be to support a 150-pound-adult?

The problem is still getting the oxygen into the blood (good luck with a bionic lung) and getting the blood into the body.
AND we need an artificial heart outside that syncs with the heart inside, or the blood pressure will too low.

[AngkorWot]

6. You know that umbilical cords are connected to a set of working lungs on the other end, right?

Working lungs breathing ordinary air?