This week “Vol. 3” of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies was released to streaming on Disney+. It is light-hearted sci-fi action fun. I was going to write a synopsis of the three movies, but it is enough to say the leader of the Guardians, Peter Quill, Star Lord (he wants everyone to call him that but no one does – he just wanted a really cool nickname…) … where was I… oh, yeah. In every one of the movies he ends up in space without all or some part of a space suit.

In one of the earlier movies ice begins to form on his face indicating his entire body is starting to freeze. [Spoiler Alert] In the current release we have the same effects but now that have added facial swelling indicating that the vacuum of space is reeking havoc on the gasses and liquids in this body. No worries, he is saved from death, rescued and recovers quite quickly. It is part of the excitement of the movie and I am more than willing to suspend critical analysis of accuracy of the film sequence.  Afterall, it’s a movie.

But did you ever wonder what actually happens if you stepped out into space without a space suit? How long could you survive? Could you hold your breath?

Movies have offered a full range of results. Some movies show unsuited astronauts (and Star Lord) suffering — and surviving — short exposures to outer space without a spacesuit, while others have depicted a range of grizzly deaths. How long could a person actually survive if thrust into the harsh vacuum of outer space? The short answer is, not very long.

Within 10-15 seconds you would be unconscious. Turns out oxygen is not the friend you are used to. Back in the day while at submarine training school, we were required to do a free ascent in a tower of water. There were several departure levels in the range of 50-120 feet below the surface of the water. While your instinct is to hold your breath, that is a really bad idea. As you ascend, the surrounding water pressure is decreasing quite quickly allowing the air in your lungs to expand. If you hold your breath, your lungs could potentially rupture.  It is necessary to aggressively exhale all the way up.

In space you just went from atmospheric normal pressure to vacuum – a much more radical change than free ascent in the submarine training tower – and the effects are radically different. The good news is that unlike the movies, the human body does not explode. The bad news is that all bodily fluids begin to boil while at the same time the body begins to expand – and is elastic enough to cope with the internal boiling body fluids. I am sure it is not going to be a “good look” for anyone.

So the lesson here is should you go into space, wear your space suit – that is unless you are Superman, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Thor or one of a number of other super heroes.

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