Here's What Would Happen If Someone Jumped Off The International Space Station

The International Space Station is a modern marvel to behold. Orbiting 248 miles overhead (via Space) at speeds of 17,150 miles per hour (via Cool Cosmos) it is perhaps the most magnificent, and certainly the most expensive, thing ever built. There are numerous things to do on the International Space Station. If you have the right scientific background for the job, you can use it to conduct experiments and make observations. It's also a great place for spacewalks and gazing out into the universe, wide and vast. However, there is one thing you absolutely do not want to do on the International Space Station: jump off of it.

Taking a giant intergalactic leap off the ISS is perhaps one of the most certain ways to die. The journey from space into a spiraling abyss would start just as soon as you jumped from the massive structure, and according to Insider, the agony could last for years.

According to Insider, "the ISS isn't floating in space, it's falling towards Earth and missing." This is excellent news for the astronauts onboard, who are able to avoid a fatal collision with Earth due to the station's advanced engines helping it maintain a life-preserving speed. However, it is terrible news for you if you happen to be leaping off into the cosmic sea of stars surrounding the station. Because you will not be falling, but rather orbiting, into space, the fall itself will eventually send you crashing into Earth. The process will consist of two-and-a-half years of torture.

While you are falling through the universe for two-and-a-half years on a journey that will most certainly end in death, there is plenty of pain and torture in store. Of course, it would be impossible for any human being to survive that long without food and drink, and the pressure alone exhibits a crushing force. But, for the sake of seeing how this journey ends, let's pretend you are fitted in a suit that's built to take the pressure and you've got a backpack filled with snacks and drinks that never go bad.

In such a scenario, you would glide through the galaxy paralyzed, not just by fear but by friction. While you are unable to move, the tens of thousands of space rocks currently orbiting Earth would likely injure or impale you (via Insider).

After the arduous, nauseating ride that would take place for the first couple of years, you would finally strike atmosphere and be hurled into hypersonic space speeds (per Insider). Is this good news? No. It means the crushing pressure would deliver approximately 8Gs of force, sending the blood rushing from your brain to your feet, ultimately causing you to pass out or die, which is really the least of the problems.

With the air molecules around you traveling at six times the speed of sound, whatever apparel you have on would rise to a temperature of about 3,002 degrees Fahrenheit. No matter how advanced the tech, a molten hot spacesuit is the last thing you'd want to wear. Not to worry, though; at such extreme temps, the electrons in your clothing would be stripped from their atoms, causing your apparel to disintegrate into (very) thin air. As you shoot through the atmosphere naked and burning, the drag is likely to rip you limb from limb before you finally crash into Earth.