u/jpgoldberg

I have not done the math, but every intuition I have tells me that orbital data centers is a ridiculous idea unless they are to provide some computing power for other things in a near by orbit.

I am assuming that these are to be solar powered, and that (ignoring getting them into orbit) solar collectors in orbit collect several times as much energy per square meter in orbit than they do on the surface of the Earth.

I also do not know anything about the cooling needs for objects in orbit when they are in direct sunlight. I suppose that if the solar panels are shading the compute units, then there is no need for actual cooling.

I also don't know if the processing units (the things that get hot on their own) are to be run in a vacuum or will require some sort of heat conduction cooling. Though this might already be a solved problem used in other satellites.

But if I am not mistaken, the enormous energy required to get things into orbit should clearly outweigh any energy savings in cooling and improved solar conversion.

So I would appreciate pointers to credible analyses of this.

Edit: I have since looked for an found how electronics are cooled on existing spacecraft: https://www.nasa.gov/smallsat-institute/sst-soa/thermal-control/

Two different sets of keys were found (by different people, none of them me) in the CHA-owned field adjacent to Arrigo (aka Peanut) Park in Little Italy.

A tree in the northwest quadrant of that field is our Lost & Found location (in addition to being the dog toy library).

Taken with shaky hands and an iPhone. But it is my view.

Although my simply iPhone photography doesn't compare to what people post here, I still want to share a couple of things that cheered me up as I walked overthe Peoria Street pedestrian overpass this (April 25) afternoon.

The second one was chalk drawing saying "Slava Ukraine".