Would I explode or implode?

[p9012]

Here's something I've been curious about for awhile and have heard

many different answers...

Would I explode or implode in the vacum of space without a spacesuit?

i.e...Could I run outside (out into the vacum of space) and say,

grab a hammer, run back inside and not be effected as long as I held my breath.

Mark K.

[mdstuart]

A bit cold!

[Kai]

I think your blood would boil first (along with all the rest of the liquids in your body) , so you would be past caring if you exploded or imploded

[lukebl]

Yes, your blood would boil and any enclosed parts of your body (such as your eyeballs, eardrums and lungs of you were holding your breath) would explode. Nice

[Toadeh]

Explode. Everything boils and it just explodes, do you not watch itchy & scratchy

[Rusty Strings]

You'd be a bit sore in the morning then.

[peteuplink]

You would survive about for ninety seconds, you wouldn't explode, you would remain conscious for about ten seconds.

Contrary to popular belief (and sorry for contradicting anyone here), your blood wouldn't boil because your blood is at a higher pressure than the outside environment. Blood won't boil, because the elastic pressure of the blood vessels keeps it it a pressure high enough that the body temperature is below the boiling point-- at least, until the heart stops beating, at which point you have other things to worry about!

[bcfcciderhead]

put it this way...its going to smart in the morning!!

[ollypenrice]

You would survive about for ninety seconds, you wouldn't explode, you would remain conscious for about ten seconds.

Contrary to popular belief (and sorry for contradicting anyone here), your blood wouldn't boil because your blood is at a higher pressure than the outside environment. Blood won't boil, because the elastic pressure of the blood vessels keeps it it a pressure high enough that the body temperature is below the boiling point-- at least, until the heart stops beating, at which point you have other things to worry about!

Now that's the kind of post I really like!

Olly

[Tim]

Wouldn't you freeze to death???

[Tim]

Anyway, if you're gonna do it, at least pull your hat down over your ears.....

[peteuplink]

put it this way...its going to smart in the morning!!

You'll be fine. Take two Aspirin and call your doctor in the morning

[Tantalus]

If you can grab that hammer and return in 15 seconds, you'll be fine... From NASA: Human Body in a Vacuum

[Macavity]

Arthur C Clark ended a short (space rescue) story with:

Breathing space didn't hurt me at all — but I got the worst dose of sunburn I've ever had in my life.

He was often (almost) right?

[sxinias]

Peteuplink has it correct. BTW, humans have actually been exposed to vacuum in and have survived with no ill effects. For details see: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html

[Nillchill]

I want to know who the unlucky sod was that had to go into the vacuum to prove it for NASA??

[steveangel]

Now that's the kind of post I really like!

Olly

Agreed, its amazing how many people believe all the stories about body parts exploding lol

Studying physics at uni really opens your eyes to some of the common misconceptions about the Universe

Steve

[toml42]

I read once of an american astronaut accidentally exposed to near vacuum for a short while, i recall he mentioned the most distinct sensation before passing out was the saliva boiling off of his tongue.

it's a misconception that space is 'cold'. It isn't really anything, vacuums don't have a temperature as such. The main danger in fact is overheating, as vacuum is a remarkably good insulator, such as in a vacuum flask, or double glazed windows. Real spacecraft must be very careful to radiate excess heat.

[Glider]

Have you not seen Dave Bowman getting back into the ship after HAL has locked him out in 2001.

[milkyjoe]

Don't forget you sunglasses!!

[brantuk]

Simple - you'd go supernova! lol

[Ags]

I'm pretty sure it would give you a sore throat. And post traumatic stress disorder.

I think even pure water exposed to a vacuum would not instantaneously vaporize (i.e. explode). Think of Mars whose 10 millibar atmosphere is thin enough to qualify as a 'vacuum' - you get water flowing over its surface for brief periods. Or Io, where pools of liquid rock are exposed directly to a hard vacuum without instantaneously exploding as 'rock vapour'.

I think the water would fizz vigourously (as the unlucky astronaut reported about his saliva), become fragmented, get very cold, and eventually leave behind a frozen residue. A bit like astronaut pee, which doesn't so much explode as leave behind a cloud of frozen droplets (when expelled from the spacecraft, anyway).

EDIT: A vacuum doesn't have any energy (aside from dark energy of course). So all the energy to vaporize the water comes from the water itself. It simply does not have enough energy to convert all of its substance to vapor. Just like humans don't contain enough energy to blow themselves apart.

[Ags]

According to the NASA page linked in an earlier post you must NOT hold your breath. If you hold your breath you will damage your lungs and your ears. Just wanted to put that out there, in case anyone is going to try this at home with a dyson and a sealed oil drum.

[AndyG63]

You might also have a problem (amongst all the others!) with your eyes if they've been laser-corrected. I know there are eye-distortion/focussing issues with artificially-thinned corneas at extreme altitudes, and there's no more extreme an altitude than a vacuum!

Andy

[Keiran]

According to the NASA page linked in an earlier post you must NOT hold your breath. If you hold your breath you will damage your lungs and your ears. Just wanted to put that out there, in case anyone is going to try this at home with a dyson and a sealed oil drum.

Hmmm... not too sure about that, last time i checked you cant breath in a vacuum ( or atleast not without an air supply) ? I would assume, If you opened your mouth and allowed air to escape from your lungs... you would simply be left breathless, so to speak. Would it not just suck everything from you lungs... Plus if your not in a shadow, wouldnt the raidiation from the sun be a huge problem???