3 ms·

Power!? Isnt that just PV and batteries? LEO has like 1.5h orbit.

literalAardvark 1y ago
It's a Datacenter... I guess solar is what they're planning to use, but the array will be so large it'll have its own gravity well
- bevr1337 1y ago
  All mass has gravity
  - swores 1y ago
    Had they said "the array will be so large it'll have its own gravity." then you'd be making a valid point. But they didn't say just "gravity", they said "gravity well". > "First, let us simply define what a gravity well is. A gravity well is a term used metaphorically to describe the gravitational pull that a large body exerts in space." - https://medium.com/intuition/what-are-gravity-wells-3c1fb6d6d44c https://medium.com/intuition/what-are-gravity-wells-3c1fb6d6... So they weren't suggesting that it will be big enough to get past some boundary below which things don't have gravity, just that smaller things don't have enough gravity to matter.
    - bevr1337 1y ago
      Given all mass has gravity, and gravity can be metaphorically described by a well, all mass has a gravity well. It is not necessary for mass to capture other mass in its gravity. A well is a pleasant and relative metaphor humans can visualize - not a threshold reached after certain mass. "Large" is almost meaningless in this context. Douglas Adams put it best > Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space. From an education site: > Everything with mass is able to bend space and the more massive an object is, the more it bends They start with an explanation of a marble compared to a bowling ball. Both have a gravity well, but one exerts far more influence https://www.howitworksdaily.com/the-solar-system-what-is-a-gravitational-well/ https://www.howitworksdaily.com/the-solar-system-what-is-a-g...
rtkwe 1y ago
As mentioned in the article the Starcloud design requires solar arrays that are ~2x more efficient than those deployed on the ISS. Simply scaling them up introduces more drag and weight problems as do the batteries needed to suffice for the 45 minutes of darkness the satellite will receive.
- looofooo0 1y ago
  Maybe they use dawn dusk orbits!

It's a Datacenter... I guess solar is what they're planning to use, but the array will be so large it'll have its own gravity well

bevr1337 1y ago
All mass has gravity
- swores 1y ago
  Had they said "the array will be so large it'll have its own gravity." then you'd be making a valid point. But they didn't say just "gravity", they said "gravity well". > "First, let us simply define what a gravity well is. A gravity well is a term used metaphorically to describe the gravitational pull that a large body exerts in space." - https://medium.com/intuition/what-are-gravity-wells-3c1fb6d6d44c https://medium.com/intuition/what-are-gravity-wells-3c1fb6d6... So they weren't suggesting that it will be big enough to get past some boundary below which things don't have gravity, just that smaller things don't have enough gravity to matter.
  - bevr1337 1y ago
    Given all mass has gravity, and gravity can be metaphorically described by a well, all mass has a gravity well. It is not necessary for mass to capture other mass in its gravity. A well is a pleasant and relative metaphor humans can visualize - not a threshold reached after certain mass. "Large" is almost meaningless in this context. Douglas Adams put it best > Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space. From an education site: > Everything with mass is able to bend space and the more massive an object is, the more it bends They start with an explanation of a marble compared to a bowling ball. Both have a gravity well, but one exerts far more influence https://www.howitworksdaily.com/the-solar-system-what-is-a-gravitational-well/ https://www.howitworksdaily.com/the-solar-system-what-is-a-g...

rtkwe 1y ago

As mentioned in the article the Starcloud design requires solar arrays that are ~2x more efficient than those deployed on the ISS. Simply scaling them up introduces more drag and weight problems as do the batteries needed to suffice for the 45 minutes of darkness the satellite will receive.

looofooo0 1y ago
Maybe they use dawn dusk orbits!