How long would you survive in a vacuum?

We don't know exactly how long it would take a person to die in a vacuum since no one has ever done it, but we can make a pretty good guess based on the information and medical knowledge we do have. Our best estimate is...

You will probably survive for about 1½ minutes.

This is more or less how you’d spend that time...

1 second: Begin freezing (if in shadow) or burning (if in sunlight).

2 seconds: Begin swelling (you don’t explode though).

4 seconds: Moisture on skin, eyes and tongue boils due to zero air pressure.

8 seconds: Internal organs begin rupturing.

15 seconds: Lose consciousness, eardrums burst.

30 seconds: Blood begins to boil.

45 seconds: Heart can no longer pump blood.

60-90 seconds: You die.

TE AWAMUTU SPACE CENTRE
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