As the piston rod is introduced into the cylinder (compression stroke), the internal pressure increases according to the volume of gas displaced buy the rod. A gas filled spring consists of a precision rod attached to a piston moving within a sealed cylinder containing nitrogen at high pressure. Output forces are the result of the differential between the pressure in the cylinder and atmospheric pressure outside the cylinder acting on the cross-section of the rod. This increase in Force or K-Factor is normally between 5% - 50%. In comparison to mechanical springs, gas springs are almost constant force.Because they operate on simple pressure differentials, gas springs will perform as well in the vacuum of space as they do on land.