What would happen if an astronaut took off their helmet in space?

Question

I remember in the movie Mission to Mars when Tim Robbins took off his mask his face became all crystalized. What would really happen to your body and internal organs?

Answer 1

First, it would be very hard to do. In zero pressure, the seals would create a LOT of friction against the joints in the suit. (at least , that's true of the old Apollo Moon suits.)
But, say you could do it - first, there'd be a very rapid decompression. You'd probably feel your skin turn very cold, and hear a quick rushing of air before your eardrums blew out, which would be very painful. You would then feel the pressure IN your body pushing out, and intense pain all over your skin, as the blood close to the skin and in your capilaries begin to boil. You'd likely feel liquidy/jelly stuff in your throat & windpipe, as these would be the fluids in your lungs & stomach being sucked out into the vaccuum. The lack of oxygen and shock would still your mind, and you would die probably within 30 seconds.
And... you probably wouldn't want to be revived if it was possible.

Answer 2

first all of all your blood and all of your fluids would start to boil almost instantly due to the fact that the is relatively no pressure in space so all of the gases contained in those liquids (and even the air in your lungs to an extent) would expand at an exponential rate. Now space is incredibly freezing cold but by the time you realize this your head has probably exploded. And those leftover bits of you would then freeze over and crystallize.

Answer 3

believe it or not, you'd still be able to survive.... for 90 seconds max. if an astronaut is taken in b4 90 seconds and is given CPR, he/she will almost ALWAYS recover with minor or little side effects. but if he isn't taken in, this is what happens:

5-10seconds after exposure: loss of consciousness
shortly after, the body will experience paralysis, then convulsions, then paralysis again. water vapor begins forming in the soft tissues of the body, causing it to swell

next 30-60 seconds: heart rate slows, blood pressure drops, and circulation stops. gas and water vapor escape through your mouth and nose. the rest of the body then cools down slowly...

note: ironically, one of the worst things u can do in this situation is holding your breath. the differences in pressure will cause the lungs to rupture!!!!

Answer 4

There is a certain pressure inside of your body created by the blood flowing throughout it, and the pumping of your heart. Even your skin holding in your organs creates a bit of pressure. The air pressure created by Earth's atomsphere keeps the pressure inside of your body to correct levels, keeping it in check. Because their is no air in space, however, there is also no air pressure. So your blood would start to boil because of there is no pressure to prevent it, and you would basically boil to death from the inside-out while simultainously being frozen to death from the outside, because space is very cold. (Because there's no atmosphere keeping the heat in!) Besides that, of course, there is no air in space to breathe, and you would suffocate.

Answer 5

suffocate and die, as a result of having no oxygen in space... the only reason that astronauts are able to live on the space station for long periods of time is that oxygen is brought up to them in compressed bottles or something like that...

Answer 6

you would have body parts sucked out of you like a vacuum, your blood would boil, and you would die a very very veeeerrryyy painful death. I would not want to be there if it happened.

Answer 7

internal pressure would become greater than external pressure and you would blow up and yes your blood would crystalize since space contains a tempeture of absolute zero.

Answer 8

He or she would die of massive haemorrages and oxygen starvation in something between five and ten seconds.

Answer 9

you'd die...duh...who cares what would happen 2 ur internal organs who would want 2 know other than u....sorry that sounded harsh i didn't mean it that way

Answer 10

Your blood would boil and you would die in less than a minute