Cold As Ice

Everyone has at some point seen a picture or a video of Armstrong walking on the moon. The suits that he had to wear seem so bulky, but every piece of it is necessary for his survival in space. Probably one of the most iconic pictures from outer space is of an astronaut floating with the earth in the background.

 

One of the reasons for the attire is the main discussion of this post, the temperature in outer space. Depending on your location, the temperature can vary drastically. First, we must discuss what space is, or isn't in this case. Outer space, beyond Earth's atmosphere, is a lack of particles which essentially creates a vacuum. There will always be some stray particles, but few enough to where they are irrelevant.
Heat is a form of energy that is transfered through matter. Since space is the absence of matter, there is no way that this energy can travel by conduction. This vacuum works like a large thermos that keeps hot objects hot and cold objects cold. In direct sunlight in outer space, temperatures on the moon can reach 240 degrees Farenheit and can drop to below -290 degrees!
So how cold does space get if there is no source of heat? Well, if a point in space is found where there are no particles floating around and there is no source of heat, the temperature can drop to 2.73 Kelvin! The lowest naturally occuring temperature is 0 Kelvin which is called "Absolute Zero". At these temperatures, no human can survive.

So the suits that the astronauts wear seem to work pretty well maintaining the body's temperature at these extreme conditions. If you would like to know more about what other bodily harm outer space can cause, check out this fun and educational site from NASA. Enjoy!

-Taylor Pellerin