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Elton John told me that space is cold as hell. Presumably the ISS is putting its waste heat somewhere, but I don't really know the limitations of radiators in s
by hotpotamus 3y ago
Elton John told me that space is cold as hell. Presumably the ISS is putting its waste heat somewhere, but I don't really know the limitations of radiators in space.
- perihelions 3y ago- "Presumably the ISS is putting its waste heat somewhere" Giant radiators: http://claudelafleur.qc.ca/images/iss028e005676.jpg http://claudelafleur.qc.ca/images/iss028e005676.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_Active_Thermal_Control_System https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_Active_Thermal_Contro... Fluid pipes are threaded through them for transferring heat. These contain mixed-phase ammonia: I believe it should condense from vapor to liquid under the radiators, the coldest point. That phase change adds a huge boost to their heat-carrying capacity.
- mrguyorama 3y agoA cubic meter of space has very little heat energy, that's true, but it's more about having only a few molecules here and there in any cubic meter of space. That leads directly to the problem though, that if there are no molecule to contact you and steal some kinetic energy and then leave, reducing your heat, the only option is to radiate it away. Radiating heat is exceptionally inefficient at rejecting heat from an object than using a material of some sort to sap away that heat with physical contact.