Re:Datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea
by tstrimple on Saturday November 29, 2025 @10:42PM
(#46093445)
I think you’re ignoring a huge factor in how radiative cooling actually works. I thought the initial question was fine if you hadn’t read the article but understand the downvotes due to doubling down. Think of it this way. Why do thermoses have a vacuum sealed chamber between two walls in order to insulate the contents of the bottle? Because a vacuum is a fucking terrible heat convector. Putting your data center into space in order to cool it is like putting a computer inside of a thermos to cool it. It makes zero fucking sense. There is nowhere for the heat to actually radiate to so it stays inside.
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Re:Datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea
by foobarian on Saturday November 29, 2025 @10:49PM
(#46093497)
Pardon but this doesn't make sense to me. A 1 m^2 radiator in space can eliminate almost a kilowatt of heat.
>vacuum is a fucking terrible heat convector
Yes we're talking about radiating not convection
Re:Datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea
by wat10000 on Saturday November 29, 2025 @11:34PM
(#46093759)
At what temperature?
And a kilowatt from one square meter is awful. You can do far more than that with access to an atmosphere, never mind water.
Re:Datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea
by kergonath on Sunday November 30, 2025 @11:39AM
(#46098113)
> A 1 m^2 radiator in space can eliminate almost a kilowatt of heat.
Assuming that this is the right order of magnitude, a 8MW datacenter discussed upthread would require ~8000 m^2, plus a fancy way of getting the heat there.
A kilowatt is nothing. The workstation on my desk can sustain 1 kW.