It's been portrayed in a lot of science fiction films that if a person in space ever got out of his suit, his eyeballs would be sucked out of their sockets and he'd die in a very miserable, painful way. In reality, it may actually be more subtle than that.

An article by Slate recently explored the prospect of whether or not a person can realistically survive an ordeal as harrowing as crawling out of his suit in space. The answer is yes, but it'll be a short and desperate experience.

Those worried about getting frostbite will be relieved that they won't live long enough to feel it. Though the temperatures in space are deadly frigid, heat in the body will take longer in a vacuum to escape, meaning frostbite will take some time to happen. The fittest human specimens are expected to live no more than 15 seconds. After that, the oxygen in the blood runs out and the organs will begin to fail.

If the lack of air doesn't kill you out there, something else will. Radiation from space along with ultraviolet rays are there to bombard your tissues. But that's less worrisome than extreme pressure that will make your saliva boil on your tongue before you fall unconscious.

The best way to increase your chances of survival is to insulate your body with some thick material and empty your lungs before the plunge. Holding your breath is the worst thing you can do as pressure will expand the oxygen in your lungs and create bubbles that will go to the bloodstream, eventually damaging the heart and brain.

Come to think of it, this may actually become the extreme sport of the far future. By the time commercial space travel becomes affordable for everyone, there's no stopping daredevils from trying to push themselves to new and even deadlier limits.