NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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  1. Question

    What does the human body experience when exposed to the vacuum of space?

    See http://www.sff.net/people/Geoffrey.Landis/vacuum.html If you try to hold your breath, the pressure of the air in your lungs will rupture you. If you let the air go, you will survive about a minute and a half. The cause of death would be asphyxiation. You would feel cooling, as water evaporated from your skin, but the skin is quite tough, and dehydration would take a long time. Similarly, you would start bruising as blood vessels ruptured, and blood loss could get serious if the lack of oxygen did not get you first. Your eardrums might rupture, and your eyes would start to be damaged by the evaporation and internal pressure. A little bit later, gas bubbles would start forming in your veins, causing ebullism, your blood pressure would collapse and blood circulation would stop. So, it is not good. Dr. Steinn Sigurdsson, Assistant Professor of Astrophysics, Penn State University
    June 3, 2002