Is it dirty in space? In all the movies, all space craft look dirty, rusty, worn out. What is in space that would make writers/movie makers think the outside of ships would look old?

star_gazer

According to this astronaut, space smells. http://news.aol.com/article/pilot-says-he-wasnt-prepared-for-smell/657641 Sep 07 09, 5:06 PM

dcpddc478

Space dust would do it. It is just finer particles of the same thing that makes up the asteroid belt. Sep 07 09, 6:56 PM

looney_tunes

Atmospheric entries would also cause a fair bit of wear and tear. http://science.howstuffworks.com/spacecraft-reentry.htm Sep 08 09, 2:28 AM

Baloo55th

Rust would only occur in damp atmospheres - and then only with an iron or steel spaceship, so only a rather heavy landing vehicle would be likely to suffer from that. Otherwise, space is far from empty. There's not very much there (apart from the big lumps and fiery bits), but when you're covering millions of miles you will encounter a lot of assorted muck. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_dust Sep 08 09, 12:50 PM