zlacker

>>wiley1+(OP)
How does “passive cooling” work in space?

>>thekom+Nb
Massive radiators. The ISS has radiators that have a dissipation capacity of about 3m^2/kW. If we use that number, we'd need a 3000m^2 radiator per megawatt, which is the scale they're talking about. This could theoretically be brought down, but not even by an order of magnitude.

I wonder how much cooling the solar panels alone would need, when operating at that scale.

>>daeken+Ld
The radiators on the ISS aren’t passive though, they have actively pumped fluid loops to get heat from the hot parts into the radiators.

>>echoan+Bl
That's interesting to know. But since it's space, how do they then cool down the hot fluid?

>>alfied+wo
Blackbody radiation, see (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan%E2%80%93Boltzmann_law)