⚠️This fact has been debunked
The human body does not explode in space. Your skin and tissue are strong enough to contain internal pressure. You would lose consciousness from oxygen deprivation in ~15 seconds and suffocate within 1-2 minutes. The 'explosion' myth is perpetuated by Hollywood.
If you went out into space without a spacesuit, you would NOT explode—your body would swell as water in your tissues vaporizes, but your skin is strong enough to hold you together. You'd lose consciousness in about 15 seconds from oxygen deprivation.
You Wouldn't Explode in Space (But Here's What Would Happen)
Every sci-fi movie seems to show it: an astronaut gets ejected into space without a suit, and boom—instant human balloon. Their body explodes in a grotesque spray of gore as the vacuum of space overwhelms them. It's dramatic. It's memorable. It's also completely wrong.
You would not explode in space. Your skin and connective tissue are far tougher than Hollywood gives them credit for. Even with the pressure differential between your insides (normal atmospheric pressure) and the vacuum outside (zero pressure), your body holds together just fine.
So What Actually Happens?
The truth is less explosive but arguably more unsettling. Within seconds of exposure to the vacuum of space, the air in your lungs would be pulled out—painfully. If you tried to hold your breath, that could rupture your lungs, but if you exhaled, you'd avoid that particular horror.
Your body would begin to swell as the water in your soft tissues starts to vaporize—a process called ebullism. Without atmospheric pressure, the boiling point of water drops dramatically, and the moisture in your skin, muscles, and blood begins turning to vapor. You'd puff up like a marshmallow, but your skin would keep everything contained.
The most immediate threat? Oxygen deprivation. You'd lose consciousness in about 15 seconds as your brain runs out of oxygen. Death would follow within 90 seconds to two minutes from asphyxiation—not explosion.
We Know This Because It's Happened
In 1965, a technician at NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center experienced accidental depressurization in a vacuum chamber when his spacesuit developed a leak. The chamber reached near-vacuum conditions, and he remained conscious for about 14 seconds before passing out.
When he was revived moments later, he reported feeling the saliva on his tongue begin to boil. He survived with no lasting injuries—proof that brief exposure to vacuum is survivable, and that bodies don't explode.
Could You Survive?
Animal experiments and the NASA incident suggest that if you were recompressed within 60 to 90 seconds, you'd likely survive with quick recovery—assuming you didn't hold your breath. Your body can handle the vacuum for a short time.
But let's be clear: it would be extremely unpleasant. Your ears would pop. Your sinuses would ache. Water would evaporate from your eyes and mouth. You'd experience the most intense decompression sickness imaginable. And after 15 seconds, you'd be unconscious and unable to help yourself.
So no, you wouldn't explode. But you'd still very much want to avoid testing this personally.