Nobody has died in space (yet) - 18 people have died while on space missions, but that was always either on the way up or on the way down.

If you suddenly find yourself exposed to the vacuum of space without a space suit, the water on your tongue and inside your nose and eyes will boil away. Also, you should breathe out, or sudden decompression could cause your lungs to rupture.

Fortunately you won't explode if you're unprotected in space (as movies might have led you to believe). It's actually the lack of oxygen in your blood that will see you shed this mortal coil - but that could take anywhere from two to four minutes.

Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson's space-tourism company, was considering banning women with breast implants because of fears that they might blow up (the breast implants, not the women).

Space makes you taller: the decreased pressure on the spine in zero-g situations can cause space travellers to grow as much as 5 centimetres.

Astronauts take their salt and pepper in liquid form, as sprinkled grains would float off and possibly clog instruments (and cause a lot of sneezing).

Just want to get away? The Rochester Institute of Technology offers a course in space tourism, and Gene Myers, president of the California-based Space Island Group, is working on developing the first space hotel.

Source: http://discovermagazine.com/

Written by Niklaus Kruger