# Death in a vacuum

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-a-vacuum/118208>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 10, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-a-vacuum/118208 "2002-07-10T07:33:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-a-vacuum/118208/1 "2002-07-10T07:33:28Z")

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I watched a rather bad Sci-Fi film this weekend, but one scene got me thinking - one of the heros is trapped in an airlock which then opens and he starts to float out into space, but is saved by a buddy who is outside and grabs him, flings him back into the airlock, closing it and then getting him to medical treatment ASAP.

What I was wondering is - How long would it take to die in the vacuum of outer space without protection? My WAG would have been that it would have been pretty instantaneous - with no pressure outside the body, I would expect the body to explode almost straight away…

Any one know?

Grim

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**Author:** ![fallom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@fallom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fallom)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-a-vacuum/118208/2 "2002-07-10T07:41:04Z")

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[http://www.badastronomy.com/zeitung/index.html](http://www.badastronomy.com/zeitung/index.html)  
The “Lost in Space” link should answer your question.

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**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-a-vacuum/118208/3 "2002-07-10T09:19:47Z")

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I think that article should have a spoiler alert…

The film _Event Horizon_ has a scene very similar to what **grimpixie** describes, and even if it’s not totally accurate, they seem to have done quite a bit more homework than _Mission to Mars_ or _2001_. In that film,they have a whole protocol that the hapless victim undergoes while the airlock is depressurizing. I don’t remember it totally, but I believe it involves emptying his lungs as much as possible, clenching his eyes and mouth tightly, and curling up into the fetal position. He doesn’t spend much longer than 10 seconds in actual vacuum, and he is certainly worse for the wear - he loses consciousness and has several injuries.Can anyone attest to accuracy or inaccuracy of this scene?

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**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-a-vacuum/118208/4 "2002-07-10T09:41:07Z")

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Thanks **fallom** - according to [the linked page](http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/archive.asp?doc=%7BA2E7412C-1338-11D5-A3B3-009027BA22E4%7D&width=1024&height=740&agt=explorer&ver=4&svr=4) the movie (which was _Event Horizon_ by the way, the name escaped me…) is fairly accurate.

> [@](#):
>
> He should have left his mouth open, and breathed out as hard as he could first.

Grim

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**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-in-a-vacuum/118208/5 "2002-07-10T13:34:50Z")

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[Cecil’s answer on this](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_147.html).

For other instances in SF of survival-in-vacuum, see A. C. Clarke’s “The Other Side of the Sky”, “2001”, and at least one other short story, maybe even more.