History Main / SpaceIsCold

As for spaceships becoming incredibly cold when left without power, [[RealityIsUnrealistic the real trouble with spaceships is actually ' 'getting rid' ' of all the heat they produce so that the engines don't cook the crew to death]]. Indeed, spaceships are designed to radiate heat as much as possible, and then have heaters that kick on when their electronics aren't running or they pass into the shadow of a world. That's why everything was cold in Apollo 13--all the 60's era electronics that doubled as space heaters were turned off to save power. Generating heat is much easier than generating cold, which is why spaceships are designed to be slightly in the negative in their heat generation without the heaters running to compensate.

As for spaceships becoming incredibly cold when left without power, [[RealityIsUnrealistic the real trouble with spaceships is actually ''getting rid'' of all the heat they produce so that the engines don't cook the crew to death]]. Indeed, spaceships are designed to radiate heat as much as possible, and then have heaters that kick on when their electronics aren't running or they pass into the shadow of a world. That's why everything was cold in Apollo 13--all the 60's era electronics that doubled as space heaters were turned off to save power. Generating heat is much easier than generating cold, which is why spaceships are designed to be slightly in the negative in their heat generation without the heaters running to compensate.

As for spaceships becoming incredibly cold when left without power, [[RealityIsUnrealistic the real trouble with spaceships is actually *getting rid* of all the heat they produce so that the engines don't cook the crew to death]]. Indeed, spaceships are designed to radiate heat as much as possible, and then have heaters that kick on when their electronics aren't running or they pass into the shadow of a world. That's why everything was cold in Apollo 13--all the 60's era electronics that doubled as space heaters were turned off to save power. Generating heat is much easier than generating cold, which is why spaceships are designed to be slightly in the negative in their heat generation without the heaters running to compensate.

The second reason is that radiating heat is a slow process, especially if you are in a space suit. Space suits are made to be cold (or hot for that matter) on the surface, meaning that as soon as the surface of a space suit turns cold, it radiates a lot less energy. And more important, depending on where you are in space, you can have incoming radiation that balances out -- or overcomes -- your heat loss.

In other words, if you are too close to the Sun (or any other star) you will not freeze when exposed to space; you will either be kind of cozy, or you might burn.

Where is the comfort zone? Suppose you put on your swimming trunks, don a fishbowl style helmet, and go outside your spacecraft for some tanning... what would happen?
* Inside the orbit of Venus, you'd bake to death fairly quickly -- but still not instantaneously, mind you. Even at Mercury's closest solar approach, equatorial surface temperatures top out around 700 Kelvin (~800°F, or 426°C) -- this is only a third the temperature of your typical charcoal fire, and almost twice as hot as your average kitchen oven's highest temperature. Like putting your hand on a grill, it'd be harmful but survivable for brief exposures.

* At the orbit of Mars or beyond, you'd freeze, but rather slowly. Even in the outer solar system, you'd be slightly more concerned about running out of air or contracting the bends than freezing to death.

As for spaceships becoming incredibly cold when left without power, the real trouble with spaceships is getting ''rid'' of all the heat they produce, so that the engines don't cook the crew to death. Indeed, spaceships are designed to radiate heat as much as possible, and have heaters that kick on when their electronics aren't running or they pass into the shadow of a world. That's why everything was cold in Apollo 13--all the 60's era electronics that doubled as space heaters were turned off to save power. Generating heat is much easier than generating cold, which is why spaceships are designed to be slightly in the negative in their heat generation without the heaters running to compensate.

The first reason is that temperature and heat are physical properties of matter. Space is the exact opposite of matter. Space is the absence of all matter -- or close enough that the difference is academic. Asking "What is the temperature of space?" is like asking a bald person what their hair color is. This means you cannot touch space because there is nothing to touch in the first place. This in turn means heat loss by convection or conduction cannot happen in space. Like matter, energy can't be created or destroyed. Things cool off when heat goes from them ''into'' the surrounding matter, even the air; nothing for the heat to travel into means the heat doesn't leave you. (Touching the surface of your spacecraft, however, can be a whole different story). This is how a thermos works, by the way; there is a near-vacuum surrounding the storage space, preventing heat from passing through.

* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'':
** In "Blast from the Past", one of Sniffles' failed attempts to use his time machine to make sure Cuddles, Giggles, Toothy and Lumpy don't get maimed on a playground involves him oiling up a seesaw. When Lumpy presses down on his end, Cuddles gets sent flying into space and instantly freezes, where he's then [[LiterallyShatteredLives shattered]] by a passing satellite.
** In "Dream Job", Lumpy sets Sniffles' dream projector to a scene where Sniffles is likewise frozen but is shattered by a fast-moving space rock instead.

* The RealityIsUnrealistic aspect is demonstrated by all the people who think they found a huge plot hole in the live-action ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' movie, where Megatron freezes upon crash-landing in the arctic, and Cybertronians are stated to be weakened by freezing temperatures, but of course can manage space just fine (they're also expecting ElementalBaggage, incidentally); an example features in [[http://www.mattmoylan.com/portfolio/comic/2007-11-05/ this comic]].