n9020351@unicorn.cc.wwu.edu (james d. Del Vecchio) (12/13/90)
Followups To: sci.space Someone posted that vacuum was an isulator. dsr@mir.mitre.org (Douglas S. Rand) writes: >Radiational cooling is pretty effective, especially when >the surrounding black body temperature is 3 or 4 degrees K. If the >person in the vacuum is in shadow they could probably freeze in just >a few minutes. If they're in direct sunlight then they might boil on >one side and freeze on the other (lots of fun). -------- I don't have a clear idea of how that would work. If the heat in your body isn't going _into_ something (like air), then where is it going? I don't understand the "3 or 4 degree K" outside temp. How can it have a tempature if there's nothing there? Do you just mean an imperfect vacuum where the particles hitting you are at 3-4 deg K? I always had the idea that something being cold was only relavent if it was actualy touching you. What's touching you in space? Jim Del Vecchio