4 ms·

Yeah that's just flat out wrong then: you can't use the solar array as a radiator.

• jcattle 10mo ago
  Of course you can. You can use everything as a radiator. Unless you have something which is literally 0 Kelvin everything radiates. See here for all the great ways of getting rid of thermal energy in space: https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute/sst-soa/thermal-control/ https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute/sst-soa/thermal-cont...
  • notahacker 10mo ago
    You can use everything as a radiator, but you can't use everything as a radiator sufficiently efficient to cool hot chips to safe operating temperature, particularly not if that thing is a thin panel intentionally oriented to capture the sun's rays to convert them to energy. Sure, you can absolutely build a radiator in the shade of the panels (it's the most logical place), but it's going to involve extra mass.
    • dsr_ 10mo ago
      You also want to orient those radiators at 90 degrees to the power panels, so that they don't send 50% of their radiation right back to the power panels.
  • oivey 10mo ago
    You can rivet people onto the outside of the ISS to radiate heat, too, but it may be detrimental to the overall system.