What do you do if you are in space and you get a rip in your spacesuit other than getting right with God? What if you cannot get back to base in time?
1 Answer
Organic Marble's answer to this QA describes the steps taken if a leak is suspected. Once it's definite that there's a leak, the outcome would depend largely on how large a hole is in the suit, but the procedure is likely the same: immediately cancel the EVA operation, have crew member "A" in the compromised suit head immediately for the nearest usable airlock, and have a crew member "B" whose suit is intact head immediately for crew member "A" to make sure they reach the airlock.
A small hole of ~3mm or less diameter would leak slowly enough to be survivable.
Without air in the suit, an astronaut will lose consciousness in no more than about 10-15 seconds; death will follow within a minute. This QA suggests that it takes at least 10 minutes to repressurize the airlocks on ISS, which means an astronaut who can't reach the airlock under her own power will likely not survive.
EVAs from ISS are normally conducted by two crew members for safety; it seems only one 3-person EVA has been conducted to date.
-
1$\begingroup$ Space suits used for EVA consist of multiple layers. The upper layers protect against micrometeroites and the heat caused by the Sun's radiation. If there is a tear or hole within these upper layers, the suit would not loose pressure. $\endgroup$– UweCommented Apr 8, 2018 at 21:20