If you take off your helmet in space will you explode?

Question

well I was told by a NASA scientist that you would, but other people seem to say you wouldn't, but if you think about it, it makes sense that you would.

Answer 1

explode as in like a bomb - NO.
but wht will happen is that blood and air will rush out from ur ear, nose , mouth, eyes....this will happen b'coz of the difference in pressure between ur body and space and hence the blood and air in ur body will rush out to fill the vacuum of space

Answer 2

No voting power at the moment, so I'm just going to chime in and say that Lodar of the Hill People is 100% correct. Hands down. Scientists have a decent understanding of what happens in a vacuum due to a few unfortunate vacuum chamber accidents on Earth while conducting space research. No one has ever actually been exposed to this in space. The exploding thing is pure hollywood, with the exception of lungs bursting, as mentioned, though that would more likely be a "rupture" than a "pop".

Answer 3

You will not explode. Your skin is a surprisingly tough membrane, so it remains intact.
However, the effects would be rather unpleasant:
The sudden drop in pressure would cause the dissolved gasses in your blood to come out of solution (like a bottle of coke fizzing when you open the lid). This would give you a bad case of the bends, and might also cause a heart-attack or a stroke if bubbles block blood vessels in your heart or brain. The small blood vessels in your mouth and sinuses would probably burst too, causing bleeding from your mouth and nose.
Your eardrums would probably rupture for the same reason, as the air tried to escape.

Another important function of space-suits is insulation: they insulate you from harmful external radiation (such as solar radiation and heat from the sun), and they keep you warm in the cold of space.
So, if you were exposed to the sun's rays, you would start to be cooked, and would receive a probably deadly dose of radiation.
If you were in shadow, you would start to freeze, but not as quickly as you might think. Though space is very cold (near absolute zero in the shade), vacuum is not very good at transferring heat (think about it: vacuum flasks are good insulators), so you would take a very long time to freeze.

Answer 4

Reducing the ambient pressure reduces the boiling point of a liquid(chemistry 101). So at the vacuum of space, you're skin may not burst, just as the guy said above, but your blood will boil instantly--literally.

If you were on a planet where the ambient pressure is close to that on earth, you will not burst. But if you're on a planet where the ambient pressure is many times greater than what we experience here on earth, you'd be crushed to death. The pressure would squeeze your lungs preventing you from breathing so you die of suffocation.

Answer 5

you were told by "nasa" how did u talk to them? someday i want to see that happen it would suck for the guy doing it ....

Answer 6

not explode exactly , more like cave in. to the people who are telling you it wouldn't, what are they thinking happens? they think you can just hold ypur breath until you pop your hemet back on and everything will be o.k.?

Ask them to try it!

Answer 7

depends.. if you mean floating around in space then yes. if you mean another possible planet then maybe not if the pressure was the same.

Answer 8

You'd be quickly reduced to your respective particulate matter.

Answer 9

my best guess is that you'd never get to get the helmet OFF... as soon as you broke the 'seal', you'd be a goner............

Answer 10

no you would "implode" the vacume of space would suck all air and fluids rite out of your body