I remember seeing several instances where spacecraft (i.e. ISS) had small holes in them and they were fine (NASA even didn’t wake astronauts once). Since the pressure difference is so great (space is a vacuum), how come there’s no explosive decompression (all the air is sucked out at once)?
In: Physics
The pressure different isn’t that great. One atmosphere of pressure is around 15 psi. All things considered, that’s not very high (your car tires are 2-3 times that, and don’t blow up when poked). Then there’s the fact that small holes really restrict the flow of liquids and gasses through them.
Holes can be a problem for materials that tear easily, like how s balloon pops. Materials that are much stronger won’t rip apart like that, and can tolerate small holes no problem. You can even test this by putting a piece of tape on a balloon and then poking through the tape with a needle. You’ll just get a slow leak.
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