Here's how long humans could survive in space without a spacesuit

pulse

May 17, 2017 5:57 PM

Don't hold your breath!

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What would happen if you went to space without a spacesuit? Whatever you do, don't hold your breath!The vacuum of space will pull the air from your body. So if there’s air left in your lungs, they will rupture.

Oxygen in the rest of your body will also expand. You'll balloon up to twice your normal size, but you won’t explode. Your skin is elastic enough to hold you together.

Any exposed liquid on your body will begin to vaporize. So the surfaces of your tongue and eyes will boil. Without air in your lungs, blood will stop sending oxygen to your brain.

You'll pass out after about 15 seconds. 90 seconds after exposure, you'll die from asphyxiation. It’s also very cold in space. You'll eventually freeze solid.

Depending on where you are in space, this will take 12-26 hours, but if you're close to a star, you'll be burnt to a crisp instead. Either way, your body will remain that way for a long time.

Gut bacteria will start to eat you from the inside out, but not for long, so you will decompose very slowly. You could be floating in space, unchanged, for millions of years. Who knows, maybe an advanced alien race will discover you!

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