No, it's near to a vacuum, would count as a laboratory vacuum on Earth. It's below the Armstrong limit of 6%. On Mars the pressure is about 1% of Earth normal. Its far beyond the conditions on Mount Everest. Even with an oxygen supply, you couldn't breathe.
(more exactly, its 0.6% average, goes up to 1.2% at the floor of the Hellas basin in optimal conditions. Hellas Planitia)
If you just had an oxygen mask, like this, the moisture lining your lungs would boil and the saliva in your mouth also, and you wouldn't survive that for long.
Your blood wouldn't boil - but that's just because it is enclosed by your skin and blood vessels.
The thing is that low pressures lower the boiling point of water. At the top of Mount Everest this just makes it difficult to make a good cup of tea. But over most of Mars water is already boiling as soon as it melts - it just sublimates to a gas like dry ice. In some places it could melt without boiling instantly, but boils at a few degrees centigrade.
So, on Mars, water at the temperature of your body of 35 C is well above its boiling point. So the moisture lining your lungs boils and you can't possibly breathe or survive for more than a few seconds. In terms of survivability, t's as bad as being exposed to the hard vacuum outside the ISS.
(more exactly, its 0.6% average, goes up to 1.2% at the floor of the Hellas basin in optimal conditions. Hellas Planitia)
If you just had an oxygen mask, like this, the moisture lining your lungs would boil and the saliva in your mouth also, and you wouldn't survive that for long.
The thing is that low pressures lower the boiling point of water. At the top of Mount Everest this just makes it difficult to make a good cup of tea. But over most of Mars water is already boiling as soon as it melts - it just sublimates to a gas like dry ice. In some places it could melt without boiling instantly, but boils at a few degrees centigrade.
So, on Mars, water at the temperature of your body of 35 C is well above its boiling point. So the moisture lining your lungs boils and you can't possibly breathe or survive for more than a few seconds. In terms of survivability, t's as bad as being exposed to the hard vacuum outside the ISS.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
4.8m answer views110.3k this month
Top Writer2017, 2016, and 2015
Published WriterHuffPost, Slate, and 4 moreHuffPost, Slate, Forbes, Newsweek, Business Insider, and Science 2.0