This first thing that Kills a human in Space?

In summary: The pressure outside his body would be so low that the air in his lungs would rupture the pleura and escape into the chest cavity. I don't think it would make it to the heart, but even if it did, it would take more than ten seconds to get there. He would have died from lack of oxygen long before that happened.In summary, there are a variety of factors that could potentially kill a human floating naked in space, including plummeting temperatures, lack of oxygen, pressure changes, radiation, and potential injuries from accidents or collisions. However, it is likely that lack of oxygen would be the most immediate and significant threat, with other factors contributing to a slower death. While
  • #36
But what about the last thing that will kill you in space? I'm guessing...polonium poisoning.
 
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  • #37
lisab said:
But what about the last thing that will kill you in space? I'm guessing...polonium poisoning.

A shark maybe? ;-p
 
  • #38
The things that could "Kill Humans In Space" are
1 lack of oxygen or no oxygen
2 blood boiling
3 maybe falling into the sun and you burn up into tiny bits of ashes
4 a alien
 
  • #39
Thanks for the responses, guys! they have been a delightful read. I think an Alien would be one of the last things to be worried about when floating in space! What about getting cancer from the sun's radiation? I think I'd be bringing sunblock on my next trip to the ISS! ;D
 
  • #40
Also interesting... a few bloggers had fun with this a while back... there is a quiz which let's you calculate how long YOU would live in the vacuum of space.

Warning. This quiz is apparently sponsored by people who want you to read their advertisements, and so you may have to look at an ad of some kind before going to your quiz results. After submitting my quiz answers, I was sent to a page soliciting signups for some social network. Simply clicked on "proceed to quiz results", and I get the answer. Seems harmless, but there you go. If you don't mind such ads, the quiz is at http://www.oneplusyou.com/q/v/space_vacuum.

I'd live, apparently, for 1 minute 23 seconds. The answer comes with an encouraging description of how you can expect to experience those last seconds, according to the quiz author.
 
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