Painting in space

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Fanatical Meat

Fanatical Meat

Lifer
Feb 4, 2009
35,788
17,323
136
would paint dry in a vacuum or would it dry instantly in a vacuum?
If I were on a space ship and it needed to be painted could it be done in space. Let’s assume if a spray paint is used it would be in some sort of container that wouldn’t explode.
 
IronWing

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
71,963
32,145
136
Water based paint would dry instantly as the water boiled off, probably before the droplets made it to the surface being painted. Oil based paint would fare better but still dry fast. In either case, the paint would have to be formulated to adhere to the surface being painted more than it stuck to itself. That is, it would have to be a whetting agent. Otherwise it would end up as a bunch of paint balls floating around the ship.
 
Fanatical Meat

Fanatical Meat

Lifer
Feb 4, 2009
35,788
17,323
136
IronWing said:
Water based paint would dry instantly as the water boiled off, probably before the droplets made it to the surface being painted. Oil based paint would fare better but still dry fast. In either case, the paint would have to be formulated to adhere to the surface being painted more than it stuck to itself. That is, it would have to be a whetting agent. Otherwise it would end up as a bunch of paint balls floating around the ship.
Click to expand...

What if I were on a treadmill?
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Captante and VirtualLarry
gorobei

gorobei

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2007
3,907
1,392
136
paint is 3 components:
  1. pigment(color particle)
  2. binder(suspension that glues to the surface)
  3. solvent(medium that allows it to be spread)

pigment doesnt really change in space other than needing to be much more uv resistant. binder might need to have a lower surface tension to avoid forming sphere droplets that dont mix with each other. solvent is the big problem.
on earth they are liquid long enough to spread by surface tension/capillary action until the solvent flashes off into a gas. with no atmospheric pressure all the solvents we use on earth would flash instantly. you could use a heavier molecule solvent that is liquid in the cold of space and only phase changes under the high temps of direct sunlight in space. so you would have to paint the ship while it is in the shade of some structure.

that is really only if the hull is being painted to protect it from stuff. if the hull is made of something that is already resistant and all you want is color, then you could possibly go with laser etching the outer surface of the hull to create micro structures that reflect a certain wavelength of light. [search for color etching of metals if you want to learn more.]
 
Last edited:
D

[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
16,716
15,700
146
gorobei said:
you could use a heavier molecule solvent that is liquid in the cold of space and only phase changes under the high temps of direct sunlight in space. so you would have to paint the ship while it is in the shade of some structure.
Click to expand...
Not quite, stuff doesn't insta evaporate in space due to temperatures, but due to zero pressure. You'd need something with very high surface tension, probably closer to clay or a dense glue or something.
 
zinfamous

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,585
30,835
146
IronWing said:
I think the treadmill would start rotating.
Click to expand...

at that point, would the paint globules freeze outside of the spray cap and rotate with you and the treadmill, at the same speed, or would the cap just lock up altogether?
 
gorobei

gorobei

Diamond Member
Jan 7, 2007
3,907
1,392
136
[DHT]Osiris said:
Not quite, stuff doesn't insta evaporate in space due to temperatures, but due to zero pressure. You'd need something with very high surface tension, probably closer to clay or a dense glue or something.
Click to expand...
water ice exists in space, ie rings of saturn and neptune. it doesnt evaporate because there is no latent heat to power the phase change. the water in liquid form in our bodies or a cup has a certain amount of heat/energy that keeps it at that current temp. when taken out of the pressure at which it is liquid the energy required to boil off is less but not 0. the heat to change phase comes from its own inherent temp/energy. a solvent that doesnt have enough latent heat wont cross the threshold.

there are some materials that need more energy to break the bonds that exist in the liquid state vs gaseous. it should be possible to find one that has enough work time to be spreadable before absorbing enough energy from application to start flashing off. whether they leave a residue is another issue. but if you have shelter in space that blocks the most immediate source of heat(sun) then you get more time to play with it.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,733
13,351
126
www.betteroff.ca
I wonder if you could get the water at the right temperature where it's not ice, but it's also not boiling. How does that work in 100% vacuum? The rest of the chemicals in the paint will have different properties though.. so I think even if you get the water content to be right, the rest of the chemicals might not be.

Now I'm just picturing the entire ISS being wrapped in plastic and have air pumped in so it's a giant bubble, so they can give it a paint job. That would make one hell of an ad for Behr. "Prime while you paint and paint while you prime, because in space, every minute counts! Aerospace grade paint from Behr, now available at Home Depot!"
 
  • Haha
Reactions: VirtualLarry
Fanatical Meat

Fanatical Meat

Lifer
Feb 4, 2009
35,788
17,323
136
gorobei said:
water ice exists in space, ie rings of saturn and neptune. it doesnt evaporate because there is no latent heat to power the phase change. the water in liquid form in our bodies or a cup has a certain amount of heat/energy that keeps it at that current temp. when taken out of the pressure at which it is liquid the energy required to boil off is less but not 0. the heat to change phase comes from its own inherent temp/energy. a solvent that doesnt have enough latent heat wont cross the threshold.

there are some materials that need more energy to break the bonds that exist in the liquid state vs gaseous. it should be possible to find one that has enough work time to be spreadable before absorbing enough energy from application to start flashing off. whether they leave a residue is another issue. but if you have shelter in space that blocks the most immediate source of heat(sun) then you get more time to play with it.
Click to expand...

sort of what I was thinking earlier, aren’t comets tails mostly ice?
 
D

[DHT]Osiris

Lifer
Dec 15, 2015
16,716
15,700
146
gorobei said:
water ice exists in space, ie rings of saturn and neptune. it doesnt evaporate because there is no latent heat to power the phase change. the water in liquid form in our bodies or a cup has a certain amount of heat/energy that keeps it at that current temp. when taken out of the pressure at which it is liquid the energy required to boil off is less but not 0. the heat to change phase comes from its own inherent temp/energy. a solvent that doesnt have enough latent heat wont cross the threshold.
Click to expand...
I was working under the assumption that we were painting with liquid paint, not solid, frozen paint. Gonna be rough on the paint brushes.
 
sdifox

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
98,833
17,308
126
You can use a van der graff generator. Lol the spark it generates would truly be frightening.
 
Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,733
13,351
126
www.betteroff.ca
IronWing said:
Sending Red into space would be worth it just to see the hair in zero gravity.
Click to expand...


I would totally do it. Would probably look something like this lol


Actually I need to build a van de graff generator now... we had one in school but my hair was short back then.

I just don't know where in my house I could safely use it, I have too many electronics lol.
 
G

Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
21,709
6,140
136
Red Squirrel said:
I would totally do it. Would probably look something like this lol


Actually I need to build a van de graff generator now... we had one in school but my hair was short back then.

I just don't know where in my house I could safely use it, I have too many electronics lol.
Click to expand...
The amount of crap hanging around in there is astonishing to me. So many things to get tangled up in, seems like a disaster just waiting to happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom