"Scientific reason to paint space ships white?" Topic

Subject says it…

Not only in reality, but in most movies space ships are variations on white and grey.

Is there some scientific reason for this?

Why not paint them like sports cars? or crazy geometric patterns like Caunter Camo?

Thoughts?

Subject says it…

Not only in reality, but in most movies space ships are variations on white and grey.

Is there some scientific reason for this?

Why not paint them like sports cars? or crazy geometric patterns like Caunter Camo?

Thoughts?

Because white shows up on screen better?

In the real world.

White reflects light so heats up less, and white emits less light in the shadow (infrared light that is), so white things cool off more slowly.

In space the solar radiation is more than here on the surface, but there is no air to insolate things. Dark colored things would heat up very quickly in the intense light and cool off more quickly in the shadow, so there would be increased thermal shock on all the parts as things pass from light to shade.

I suspect DyeHard has the right of it, but for me Chris Foss was always the king of the 'rule of cool' when it came to starships.

@DyeHard
Makes sense. But wouldn't other bright color tones also reflect heat, for example yellow, red, orange?

And when you say "shadow" I assume you mean the occasional times when a ship has an obstacle between it and the sun, e.g. a moon or planet.

So assuming that part of the purpose of almost any space ship is to go into orbit, it would – depending on the orbit speed – go around a planet from day to night side and back, getting heated and cooled and heated rapidly, and that's why our actual space ships are white – they always are eventually orbiting around a planet?

"Fascinating, Captain" :)