I just binged The Expanse… Yeah, when the space pirates make you walk the airlock, it’s slightly less lethal than being instagibbed by implosion, but certainly far from fun.
Not for very long, but not for the reasons countless sci-fi movies and shows have told you: you’ll neither explode nor freeze to death.
People think of vacuum as something massive, but it’s actually just 1 bar difference.
Atmospheric pressure is (roughly) 1 bar, which is comparable to 10 m of water. So getting put in a vacuum is like ascending from a 10 m dive.
You don’t implode at 10 m depth, and you also don’t swell up on Mount Everest, which is roughly at 0.3 bar.
The biggest threat to your life is the actual decompression.
If you’re abruptly thrown into the vacuum, and you don’t manage to exhale immediately, the air in your lungs will expand and rip your lungs. Which is one of the biggest dangers of diving.
But more likely is that it‘ll just rip the air out of your body, which probably isn’t good for either your lungs nor your intestines.
You won’t freeze to death, because there’s no medium to transport the energy away, so you’ll only lose heat through the actual radiation, which takes pretty long. Much longer than in cold water, anyway.
Also, your blood won’t boil, since it’s protected by the skin. Maybe the exposed areas, your eyes, your saliva.
So, if you survive the initial decompression, your chances aren’t that bad, after all.
IIRC, the biggest problem in a vacuum is that your lungs work in reverse, expelling oxygen from your bloodstream into the void, so you have about 15 seconds of consciousness with which to panic before you black out.
I just binged The Expanse… Yeah, when the space pirates make you walk the airlock, it’s slightly less lethal than being instagibbed by implosion, but certainly far from fun.
Wait… how long can you survive for in a vacuum, and still resemble your usual self if saved?
Not for very long, but not for the reasons countless sci-fi movies and shows have told you: you’ll neither explode nor freeze to death.
People think of vacuum as something massive, but it’s actually just 1 bar difference.
Atmospheric pressure is (roughly) 1 bar, which is comparable to 10 m of water. So getting put in a vacuum is like ascending from a 10 m dive.
You don’t implode at 10 m depth, and you also don’t swell up on Mount Everest, which is roughly at 0.3 bar.
The biggest threat to your life is the actual decompression.
If you’re abruptly thrown into the vacuum, and you don’t manage to exhale immediately, the air in your lungs will expand and rip your lungs. Which is one of the biggest dangers of diving.
But more likely is that it‘ll just rip the air out of your body, which probably isn’t good for either your lungs nor your intestines.
You won’t freeze to death, because there’s no medium to transport the energy away, so you’ll only lose heat through the actual radiation, which takes pretty long. Much longer than in cold water, anyway.
Also, your blood won’t boil, since it’s protected by the skin. Maybe the exposed areas, your eyes, your saliva.
So, if you survive the initial decompression, your chances aren’t that bad, after all.
This is very informative, thank you.
Wow thank you for the detailed reply I learned a few new things today!
IIRC, the biggest problem in a vacuum is that your lungs work in reverse, expelling oxygen from your bloodstream into the void, so you have about 15 seconds of consciousness with which to panic before you black out.
That is an unpleasant thought.