Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!dptcdc!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!ois.db.toronto.edu!hogg
From: hogg@db.toronto.edu (John Hogg)
Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: What if...
Message-ID: <89Mar28.101006est.9394@ois.db.toronto.edu>
Date: 28 Mar 89 15:10:01 GMT
References: <5042@cbnews.ATT.COM> <15.UUL1.3#5131@mvac.UUCP> <1989Mar25.222108.9060@utzoo.uucp> <7648@killer.Dallas.TX.US> <7726@pyr.gatech.EDU>
Organization: University of Toronto, CSRI
Lines: 16

In article <7726@pyr.gatech.EDU> ccoprmd@pyr.UUCP (Matthew T. DeLuca) writes:
>     Space has no real 'ambient temperature', since space is not composed
>of matter, and temperature is a property of matter.  In Earth orbit,     
>the temperature of your craft is either very cold or very hot, depending on
>whether or not it is in the sun.  Many spacecraft rotate, to distribute the
>heating more evenly.  It is of note that while space is often thought of as
>'cold', spacecraft never have problems with maintaining warmth; rather, 
>one of the more common problems in space is that of overheating.

A good description, but that should be *almost* never.  A large craft with
a small heat output may run into problems.  Apollo 13 was quite chilly on
the way home.  There was not enough heat output (since all non-essential
systems were shut down) and too much surface area, all of it the wrong colour.
-- 
John Hogg			hogg@csri.utoronto.ca
Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto