Effect of away team size?

[JimSB]

The larger the away team is, the more hit points it has to absorb damage. Adding officers also increases this. I think the HP are calculated by the hit points in the space suit x # of bodies in the away team. Note that even when you have away team damage, it doesn't seem to take effect until you go back to the ship. If you have self-sealing suits or the field medic skill, you can heal your team as you move around and may even be able to mitigate all damage.