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Science Facts That Will Shock and Surprise You

Humans Don’t Explode in a Vacuum

by Tom Currie

Humans Don’t Explode in a Vacuum

There are all sorts of reasons not to step out of a spaceship sans suit—cosmic radiation, extreme temperatures, getting made fun of by the other astronauts for your absent-mindedness—but blowing up isn’t one of them. The confusion probably comes from the term “explosive decompression,” which means that the air pressure drops faster than air can safely escape the lungs and is certainly no fun at all but doesn’t involve any literal explosion. There has actually been one documented case of a pressure-related human explosion, but it wasn’t due to sudden exposure to vacuum; an accident aboard the British drilling rig Byford Dolphin dropped the pressure in a diving bell from eight atmospheres to one, killing five divers and injuring one.