I have an interesting question, would a corpse actually disintegrate in outer space? On Earth, bacteria and stuff like that slowly eat a corpse. Any corpse, a human's, an animal's, and even a fallen tree in a forest. It would slowly decay until it turns into soil and eventually feeds the current living organisms. It's "the circle of life". But, in outer space? In absence of bacteria and air, wouldn't a corpse be preserved?
This image of a floating space suit with a skeleton inside is common in space horror. But, would it really be a skeleton? Wouldn't the corpse be preserved intact inside the spacesuit?
BTW, I agree with Tom. A slow leak would most likely cause the humans to lost conscious because of lack of oxygen. Exactly what happens when you connect a car's muffler with the car's interior (the exhaust fumes invade the cabin, a suicidal technique in John Grisham's The Client) or when people use faulty heating sources in winter. The carbon monoxide would drive people into unconscious and afterwards into death.
I just recalled there's another novel you may want to check: Michael Flynn's The Wreck of the River of Stars. There's a leak in a spaceship and the air is slowly leaving the ship (by the very end of the story). Interesting symptoms are explained there when oxygen levels are low, like short-memory loss. The characters even forget they are in danger because of the memory loss.
Kiss,
Gacela
