As unbelievable as it sounds, the first 10 seconds or so in space would be uncomfortable, but you could still manage to work with full mental capacity and attempt to take countermeasures there is still enough oxygen in the blood to keep the brain working, as long as the blood remains circulating. Thus, exposure to space vacuum does not cause an instant death due to all the blood vessels in the head bursting all at once, as was suggested in Mission to Mars. This occurs most often in the joints, and causes decompression sickness, also known as 'the bends' or caisson disease, which can be painful but is rarely lethal. The loss of pressure outside the body causes this gas to expand as well, and form bubbles inside the blood vessels and tissues. Another gas affected inside the body would be the considerable amount of nitrogen dissolved in the blood. Decompression with explosive effects is only known to occur with pressure drops of several atmospheres (as seen in Licence to Kill (1989)). The extreme bloating from Total Recall (1990), the excessive skin-tearing and hemorrhaging from Event Horizon (1997), or violent explosive decompression á la Outland (1981) would not happen either under such circumstances. However, the human skin is resilient and will be able to withstand the internal pressure build-up, at least when one is exposed from normal pressure to a vacuum (normally a drop in pressure of 1 atmosphere). Normal air pressure on Earth keeps liquids such as water in liquid form a vacuum causes the water in the skin and muscles to vaporize and expand, causing small superficial arteries to burst and several body parts to swell. The absence of pressure would cause the gases in our lungs and gastrointestinal tract to expand rapidly, which is why critical damage can be delayed by exhaling before the exposure. So freezing to death within seconds as seen in Sunshine (2007) and Mission to Mars (2000) would not occur. The reason is that there is no gas in the space vacuum that can carry sound or absorb the heat most body heat would disperse as radiation, which takes a while longer. As paradoxical as it seems, the body wouldn't freeze immediately, despite a temperature well below -200° Celsius (-328° Fahrenheit). Lots of experiments on Earth and in space and simulations with altitude chambers have given scientists a very good idea of what would happen if a person is suddenly exposed to space without a pressurized suit. As can be seen earlier when she and Kowalski return to their ship, the crew inside has been frozen solid due to prolonged exposure to space temperature. Stone would eventually have succumbed to the rapid loss of oxygen and temperature change if the door had stayed open.

Gravity 2013 movie worksheet