You dont have to watch or read much sci-fi to know that if youre exposed to the vacuum of space, youre going to have a pretty miserable time. In fact, sci-fi writers love the concept of a vacuum. As weve all seen, vacuum-related deaths usually range from exploding body parts to instant freezing. Strangely enough, what actually would happen to a person exposed to a vacuum is relatively well documented and also very different to what is portrayed in Hollywood. But first off, the nice bits. You definitely wouldnt turn into a frosty astronaut calippo. In order for heat to exit your body, it generally needs to travel across some sort of medium which is severely lacking within a vacuum. You also wouldnt explode either. All that lovely connective tissue is more than strong enough to keep all your organs safe and sound inside the body. But dont get too comfortable with the idea of a vacuum, youll definitely end up dead, theres no doubt about that. But instead youll die in different, equally horrifying ways. Why is this bad news? When initially exposed to a vacuum, the lack of pressure means that all the air in your body thats close to some orifice will unceremoniously rush out of your body at once. But this is far preferable to option two, as any of the air youve managed to keep in your body will instantaneously expand, likely causing ruptures of vital organs such as the lungs. Next, the moisture on places like your eyes and tongue will begin to bubble and boil as exposure to the low pressure means a far lower boiling point. The cherry on top? Thankfully, youll likely still be alive while all this is happening. Itll take a good 10-15 seconds of clawing the emptiness around you while gasping for air before you finally meet your demise from hypoxia. Id almost prefer the sci-fi special blowing up in an instant.
