# Taking a Deep Breath in a Vacuum.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-deep-breath-in-a-vacuum/497730>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 26, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-deep-breath-in-a-vacuum/497730 "2009-05-26T20:39:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Here\_Come\_Dots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cc9497/32.png) [@Here\_Come\_Dots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Here_Come_Dots)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-deep-breath-in-a-vacuum/497730/1 "2009-05-26T20:39:15Z")

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What would happen if I tried to take a deep breath in a vacuum? Would my lungs fill with nothing? Would I gasp as if I were trying to draw a breath underwater? Would my diaphragm just move up and down with out my chest expanding at all?

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-deep-breath-in-a-vacuum/497730/2 "2009-05-26T20:45:15Z")

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Erm… your entire body is under pressure. I assume if it was in a vacum something rather unpleasant would happen.

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**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-deep-breath-in-a-vacuum/497730/3 "2009-05-26T20:54:33Z")

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> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> Erm… your entire body is under pressure. I assume if it was in a vacum something rather unpleasant would happen.

As I understand it, actually, being in a vacuum (for a SHORT while) doesn’t do as much damage as you might think. Except for the not being able to breathe part.

> [@](#):
>
> There are several cases of humans surviving exposure to vacuum worth noting. In 1966 a technician at NASA Houston was decompressed to vacuum in a space-suit test accident. This case is discussed by Roth in the reference above. He lost consciousness in 12-15 seconds. When pressure was restored after about 30 seconds of exposure, he regained consciousness, with no apparent injury sustained.

> **[Explosive Decompression and Vacuum Exposure](http://www.geoffreylandis.com/vacuum.html)**
>
> Explosive decompression: what happens if you expose a human to vacuum without a space suit?

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**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/taking-a-deep-breath-in-a-vacuum/497730/4 "2009-05-26T21:01:05Z")

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> [@Here\_Come\_Dots](#):
>
> Would my lungs fill with nothing?

It would perhaps be more accurate to say that any air that had been in your lungs would disperse into the vacuum.