3 ms·

Depends on where in space. In LEO... sure. In the orbit of the Tesla Roadster it's mostly warm isn't it?

• pnpnp 4y ago
  Since it’s never really in the shadow of a planet (heliocentric orbit), it’s probably hotter overall. From the videos I’ve seen, it’s also spinning really slowly. I think you could see off-gassing in some of the videos. I looked into it a little further, and there was speculation it was from the plastics and paint getting extremely hot in direct sunlight. “Space” is roughly the same temperature (a little warmer near stars with particles and free gas), but the direct solar radiation is what is so hot. Since space is an excellent insulator, getting rid of the thermal energy becomes a problem when you’re not shaded. If you want to read some more on this, check out what the JWST has done for thermal management. It’s really cool (no pun intended).