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.

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fc417fc802 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

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marcosdumay 6 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

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.

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protimewaster 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		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.

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wuschel 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Thermals are one among many really big challenges that require costly solutions.

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dgellow 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It won’t. It’s not supposed to work, it’s a mirage to raise dumb money. It’s way, way more challenging to cool something a vacuum. The only option is radiative cooling, which is far from being performant. The idea is as realistic as Musk previous grifts such as his digging company and there hyperloop, both absurd and supposed to revolutionize transport, both created as grifting devices and ensure public transport doesn’t develop in the US