we are talking near-zero temperatures in space.
Are we?
What about the alleged properties of the thermosphere, plus the insulating nature of a vacuum?
Good question:
we have:
- Atmosphere - part of the skies where some pressure is there to have gases
- Space - part of the skies above that; P ~ 0
The upper part of the atmosphere, with an unknown boundary between atmosphere and space as nobody nor instruments have been there, is the thermosphere.
Wiki states some things quite well:
Even though the temperature is so high, one would not feel warm in the thermosphere, because it is so near vacuum that there is not enough contact with the few atoms of gas to transfer much heat.
...the energy lost by thermal radiation would exceed the energy acquired from the atmospheric gas by direct contact.
And of course is infected with such crap:
The International Space Station orbits within the middle of the thermosphere, between 330 and 435 kilometres (205 and 270 mi) (decaying by 2 km/month and raised by periodic reboosts), whereas the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite at 260 kilometres (160 mi) utilized winglets [??] and an innovative ion engine to maintain a stable
orientation and orbit.
Whoops, gravity is messing with Santa NASA, we have to correct here...So it's a bit difficult to speak of temperature in low pressure conditions.
The value for space is set at 3 K. That may or may not be true, but does it make sense? I would say yes:
Heat is transferred either by:
- convection - needs a medium for that
- conduction - idem
- radiation
The higher you come the lower the pressure; less molecules / km2
convection: The higher you come the less thermal effects as there is less "air" to transfer this effect
conduction: will come to that
radiation: every particle receiving heat through radiation from the only source possible (the Sun) will heat up and no possibility to give off the heat due to the low pressure (explaining the thermosphere values)
I was stating that the low temperature of the vacuum would not let the rocket survive.
That is because if you imagine a rocket there (which cannot come there in the first place), it is black and white.
50% of this cilinder is heated by the Sun through radiation, and the surface of that cilinder
conducts the received heat according to the thermal conductivity of the material
but 50 % of that same cilinder is in the stone cold un-radiated shadow surrounded by near vacuum...
The problem is that the material properties of the rocket (some Al-Ti-Fe-alloy) are drastically affected by its temperature itself.
Mechanical (rigidity, cohesive strength) and other material properties are affected by that temperature. The thermal conductivity itself is also depending on the temperature of the material.
Having 50% of Sun shine alloy of some 300 degrees would be ok. But how does the other side work? It would crumble away and the thermal distribution along the cilinder circumference would go nuts. It would shatter to crumbles just as you can break metals which are kept under very low temperatures easily; no rigidity anymore...
From +300 to almost -270 in the same medium made of the same material...
The materials will fail and the rocket would be shattered to space dust.
I don't understand what you mean with an "insulating effect" of a vacuum?