[Go_Raiders]

Seems odd, astronauts, U-2 and SR-71 pilots wore suits to flush nitrogen from their bodies before high altitude or space flights, so there must be some criteria for preventing the bends.

[BipolarBob]

yeah, but they didn’t have the “safe and effective” vaccine back then.

[pfflier]

Seems odd, astronauts, U-2 and SR-71 pilots wore suits to flush nitrogen from their bodies before high altitude or space flights, so there must be some criteria for preventing the bends.

Those suits are required for altitudes above 50,000 feet. I doubt the C-17 went half of that.

[Paal Gulli]

...U-2 and SR-71 pilots wore suits to flush nitrogen from their bodies before high altitude or space flights....

Wrong.

It's called a "pressure suit" for a reason. You wear them to prevent your blood from boiling at high altitudes (see "Armstrong Limit," below). Breathing pressurized oxygen is what purges the nitrogen from their bloodstream.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstrong_limit