Would heat sinks work in space?
Would heat sinks work in space?
Easton Perry
Robert Russell
Because there's no air going over them
Christian Fisher
Kind of but not really. Massive radiator vanes might be effective, but the shit in OP is worthless.
Joshua Watson
Oh yeah ok, that makes sense
How effective would it be though, just radiation? I suppose if they were big enough....
David Morris
was memeing, i dont know lmao XD
Nicholas Clark
They will also sublimate/evaporate a bit (which might be significant depending on the material and temperature). That might be useful for short-term mission.
Ian Williams
You need heat sinks in space
Grayson Rogers
Yes but without atmosphere the only transfer of energy is radiative.
The thermal exhaust port of the Death Star (Rogue One was never necessary to explain it) works because the interior of the Death Star has an atmosphere. If you blow air out into space you'd be transferring the heat by convection.
Justin Gutierrez
It probably does radiate the heat away
IIRC, the author of the above page is big on excess heat being radiated as neutrinos
Adam Brown
Example of what real heat radiators would look like.
Jaxson Johnson
That's bound to mess up your trajectory.
Kevin Walker
Why?
Brody Roberts
You're right heat sinks wouldn't work sink they require air flow to operate. Otherwise, you are left with thermal radiation alone to do the cooling which is an extremely inefficient way of cooling down. Take a vacuum flask you store coffee in for reference.
Alexander Ross
They're in use now.
Doesn't anyone do searches on the web anymore?
space.stackexchange.com
Jonathan Allen
Seriously.
>Radiator fins on the New Horizons rtg on lower right
Owen Myers
who's to say that inside the infrared-transparent surface there aren't infrared flashlights amping up the emission capability?
Landon Sullivan
Radiators can be anything in the end as long as it radiates the heat away
Jordan Foster
Why?
Jaxson Rogers
Physics
Michael Ross
Personally I am more skeptical about the note next to the shield generator claiming the star destroyer has an energy source that is roughly equivalent to a medium-sized star.
Joseph Allen
what, you mean converting the ship's heat energy to electrical so that it can go back to heat in the first place? that can be done with the same principal as refrigeration w/ a sterling engine on the coils. Then, the flashlight could emit the same infrared photons as say a thousand-dergee blackbody without being itself anywhere near that hot.