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Space-based datacenters simply won't work. That people are talking about them shows Musk is the greatest snake oil salesman the world has ever seen.

by nutjob2 4mo ago

saimiam 4mo ago
> won’t work A datacenter (earthbound or space) itself is a fantastical idea until a mix of events and inventions made it feasible to build them to sell compute.
- ipdashc 4mo ago
  ... what? Data centers are literally the original form of computer facility. How are they different from the computer rooms mainframes, etc were housed in?
newsclues 4mo ago
You think the military can’t or won’t dump billions into this to make killing people with drones more effective? It’s a engineering challenge not impossible.
- Drakim 4mo ago
  There are asteroids with concentrations of precious metals more valuable than earth's entire economy. Why don't we just send up spaceships to mine them and send the haul back to earth? What country would say no to free money? After all, it's just an engineering challenge, not impossible.
  - fc417fc802 4mo ago
    The numbers on that are at least somewhat questionable. Even ignoring that you'd crash the market (thus it's not actually worth what it first appears to be) what is the total fuel cost to adjust the orbit of the target asteroid to land the entire thing back on the earth? Because that's what you're doing bit by bit as you shuttle loads of ore back. Now if you have space based manufacturing or fuel production on the other hand ...
    - XorNot 4mo ago
      That's the point. Basic rule of thumb: anytime someone is arguing that the military will fund something, they're wrong. Its not a real argument it's just used because to most people the military is a big mysterious thing they don't understand which they think has an infinite budget for things.
rpdillon 4mo ago
Can anyone explain how the thermals will work? One of the biggest challenges on Earth is cooling the data center, and it's at least as challenging in space.
- fc417fc802 4mo ago
  The earthbound equivalent would be strapping each chassis to the back of a dedicated solar panel and having the panel double as a giant heat sink. The problem is that doesn't work on the surface due to (at least) rain, the day/night cycle, and the cost of real estate.
  - protimewaster 4mo ago
    Isn't a solar panel going to be a poor heatsink, though? It's flat, and thus has relatively small surface area compared to its size.
    - fc417fc802 4mo ago
      In atmosphere, yeah, relatively speaking. But it doesn't matter since in this scenario each chassis is powered exclusively by the respective panel. How hot does a black panel sitting in the midday sun get? That's your equilibrium temperature. As long as it's within the operational limit of the device there's no problem. The reason earthbound DCs are difficult to cool is because of density. When you match up panels to devices and shelter in their shadow you no longer have anywhere near the same power density.
  - marcosdumay 4mo ago
    That's not right. This works a couple orders of magnitude better on the ground than on space (unless your computers run at several hundred °C). The reason people don't do it here is because it's too expensive.
    - fc417fc802 4mo ago
      What isn't right? I pointed out that if you adhere to the same power density then cooling is no longer a challenge on earth (in reply to the observation that cooling a DC on earth is one of the biggest challenges). For the record the equilibrium temperature in earth orbit is above freezing but below room temperature. Cooling won't be a problem at all unless you bring along a self contained power source. Heat distribution however might be - you will need an efficient yet lightweight construction to spread the heat generated in the chassis across the entire solar panel.
criddell 4mo ago
> Space-based datacenters simply won't work. Everybody knows. Musk is a snake oil salesman (that’s been clear since the self-driving car promises) but he also has made a lot of people a lot of money and that’s all anybody really cares about. None of his companies have a traditionally reasonable valuation. Is there any reason to think that’s going to change soon?

Space-based datacenters simply won't work. That people are talking about them shows Musk is the greatest snake oil salesman the world has ever seen.

by nutjob2 4mo ago

Space-based datacenters simply won't work. That people are talking about them shows Musk is the greatest snake oil salesman the world has ever seen.

saimiam 4mo ago

> won’t work A datacenter (earthbound or space) itself is a fantastical idea until a mix of events and inventions made it feasible to build them to sell compute.

ipdashc 4mo ago
... what? Data centers are literally the original form of computer facility. How are they different from the computer rooms mainframes, etc were housed in?

newsclues 4mo ago

You think the military can’t or won’t dump billions into this to make killing people with drones more effective? It’s a engineering challenge not impossible.

Drakim 4mo ago
There are asteroids with concentrations of precious metals more valuable than earth's entire economy. Why don't we just send up spaceships to mine them and send the haul back to earth? What country would say no to free money? After all, it's just an engineering challenge, not impossible.
- fc417fc802 4mo ago
  The numbers on that are at least somewhat questionable. Even ignoring that you'd crash the market (thus it's not actually worth what it first appears to be) what is the total fuel cost to adjust the orbit of the target asteroid to land the entire thing back on the earth? Because that's what you're doing bit by bit as you shuttle loads of ore back. Now if you have space based manufacturing or fuel production on the other hand ...
  - XorNot 4mo ago
    That's the point. Basic rule of thumb: anytime someone is arguing that the military will fund something, they're wrong. Its not a real argument it's just used because to most people the military is a big mysterious thing they don't understand which they think has an infinite budget for things.

rpdillon 4mo ago

Can anyone explain how the thermals will work? One of the biggest challenges on Earth is cooling the data center, and it's at least as challenging in space.

fc417fc802 4mo ago
The earthbound equivalent would be strapping each chassis to the back of a dedicated solar panel and having the panel double as a giant heat sink. The problem is that doesn't work on the surface due to (at least) rain, the day/night cycle, and the cost of real estate.
- protimewaster 4mo ago
  Isn't a solar panel going to be a poor heatsink, though? It's flat, and thus has relatively small surface area compared to its size.
  - fc417fc802 4mo ago
    In atmosphere, yeah, relatively speaking. But it doesn't matter since in this scenario each chassis is powered exclusively by the respective panel. How hot does a black panel sitting in the midday sun get? That's your equilibrium temperature. As long as it's within the operational limit of the device there's no problem. The reason earthbound DCs are difficult to cool is because of density. When you match up panels to devices and shelter in their shadow you no longer have anywhere near the same power density.
- marcosdumay 4mo ago
  That's not right. This works a couple orders of magnitude better on the ground than on space (unless your computers run at several hundred °C). The reason people don't do it here is because it's too expensive.
  - fc417fc802 4mo ago
    What isn't right? I pointed out that if you adhere to the same power density then cooling is no longer a challenge on earth (in reply to the observation that cooling a DC on earth is one of the biggest challenges). For the record the equilibrium temperature in earth orbit is above freezing but below room temperature. Cooling won't be a problem at all unless you bring along a self contained power source. Heat distribution however might be - you will need an efficient yet lightweight construction to spread the heat generated in the chassis across the entire solar panel.

criddell 4mo ago

> Space-based datacenters simply won't work. Everybody knows. Musk is a snake oil salesman (that’s been clear since the self-driving car promises) but he also has made a lot of people a lot of money and that’s all anybody really cares about. None of his companies have a traditionally reasonable valuation. Is there any reason to think that’s going to change soon?