The thermal decomposition characteristics and thermal safety of methylhydrazine （MMH） were studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）. The kinetics， thermodynamics and thermal safety parameters of MMH were calculated， respectively. The thermal explosion delay period of MMH of ball shaped with radius of 1 m at different supercritical ambient temperatures were also obtained. Based on the isoconversion rate method， the adiabatic induction period and self-accelerating decomposition temperature of MMH were further evaluated by using AKTS software. The results show that the thermal decomposition process of MMH has only one strong exothermic peak. The apparent activation energy values of MMH calculated by Kissinger and Ozawa methods are 159.13 kJ·mol^-1 and 158.89 kJ·mol^-1， respectively. The values of T_bp0 of MMH is 469.55 K. The values of entropy of activation （ΔS≠）， enthalpy of activation （ΔH≠）， and free energy of activation （ΔG≠） are 73.93 J·mol^-1， 155.32 kJ·mol^-1 and 121.46 kJ·mol^-1， respectively. The corresponding temperatures for adiabatic induction period at 8， 24 h and 168 h are 429.55， 424.05 K and 414.95 K， respectively. When the packing mass was 5， 25， 50 kg and 100 kg， the self-accelerating decomposition temperatures of MMH are 415.15， 414.15， 413.15 K and 412.15 K in turn. The results provide the necessary theoretical basis for evaluating the thermal safety of MMH in the processes of production， storage， transportation and use.