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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rackhir" data-source="post: 2475549" data-attributes="member: 149">The thing is, that space isn't actually "cold" per se. In space the only way that objects loose energy is through radiating it. Most energy loss in an atmosphere is actually from convective energy transfer, in other words slower moving molecules bumping up against the higher energy molecules of a "hot" object. This is why you loose heat faster in water than air, water will absorb more energy and transfer that away from you than does the air. Its also the reason why it is more important to insulate yourself from the ground than the air. In a vacuum the only way to lose energy it to radiate it away, generally in the form of IR radiation. This is a very inefficent process compared to convective energy transfer. If you add an energy source into the situation like say the sun, you might well need to worry much more about being able to shed enough energy, rather than loosing it. Since the sun is more than capable of adding more heat to an object than it will radiate. This is one of the reasons why satelites tend to be wrapped in reflective gold foil and space craft like the shuttle are painted white, to minimize the amount of energy they have to radiate to keep them cool. So if you take a room temperature object like a gun into space, it is not necessarily going to drop to the near absolute zero of space or even cool off rapidly. Eventually the temperature loss could be a problem, but more likely you would have to worry about overheating from the thermal energy generated by firing the gun. Vacuum wielding is not something that occures in a short period of time either. If he stored the gun outside of the ship for a substantial period of time it might be a danger, but I think we are talking weeks or months, more likely years. From what I understand as well it would only occur in situations where there was inadiquate lubrication. The long and the short of it is that there are some very good reasons not to use a kinetic energy weapon (ie. a gun) in space, but it has nothing to do with an inability to function and everything to do with how it would move you around if you weren't properly braced.</blockquote>

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