What might prevent metal “blowing” and other forms of shaping from working if gravity was not a factor? Let’s handwave-ignore the extremes of temperature as it relates to techniques and the present primitive space habitats and craft.

Is it possible to suspend a pool of molten metal, with a tube inside, spin while adding a gas to shape a container, and form more complex shapes through additional heat cycles in a repeatable process?

    • Mayor Poopington@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Sure, but temperature is useless in a vacuum. The heat has nowhere to go. There is some ambient radiation in space, but not enough. Temperature regulation is a serious thing for astronauts.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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        2 months ago

        Things still do cool in shaded space, though, it just takes longer. The James Webb took like a month or two to get down to cryogenic IIRC.

        I have a feeling OP was worried about gravity, which isn’t usually helpful here, but isn’t actually a dealbreaker. Glass is heavy too.

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Space is cold, but since it’s a vacuum (a great insulator) keeping things cool is a greater challenge.

    • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Metal has excellent heat capacity, why wouldn’t it stay hot on earth?

      Are you saying things won’t stay hot in space? The exact opposite is true! It’s very hard to keep things from over heating if you have a heat source.