The Misappliance Of Science

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In space, no one can hear you die sort of slowly and painfully.

Science fiction movies and TV shows love to show people exploding in space vacuum. It's dramatic and a convenient excuse for some gratuitous special effects. It is, however, not an accurate portrayal of what would happen in real life if a person were to actually find himself or herself in such an unfortunate situation.

Among the shows that commit this bending of the truth are Total Recall and the TV series Red Dwarf (episode: "Confidence and Paranoia"). A notable exception is 2001, where the character Dave Bowman successfully endures the vacuum of space for several seconds, with no subsequent ill-effects, while forcing his way back into the space station, having been earlier locked out by the computer HAL.

Debunked: People [explode/boil/something special-effecty] in the vacuum of space.

A lot of nasty things will happen to you if you find yourself in space, unprotected, by exploding or having your blood boil are not among them.

Animal experiments and (very limited) human experiments have shown that a brief (about 30 seconds) exposure to vacuum generally produces no permanent injury, though it would hardly be a pleasant experience. The most likely injuries would be lung damage, caused by holding your breath, and damage to your eardrums, if your Eustachian tubes are blocked.

In space vacuum, though, you have more troubles than just the vacuum to worry about. Radiation from the sun is one of them. Also, hypothermia from the intense cold (blood and tears are more likely to freeze than boil), swelling of your tissues from the lack of pressure. And there's the slow suffocation from lack of oxygen. A quick death by explosion may be preferable to all these myriad other problems, but unfortunately, it's not going to happen.

References:

• Urbanlegends.com reference on bodies in a vacuum