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GMoromisato • yesterday at 7:20 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

Emissivity is one factor, but it is dwarfed by the T^4 term. Sure, maybe if you use exotic materials you can get from 0.9 to 0.95 emissivity, but why bother? Just run the radiators a little hotter.

The equation is:

  A ~ (1000 P) / (2 e k T^4)
Where

  A is the radiator area in square meters
  P is the power in kilowatts
  e is emissivity (usually 0.9)
  k is the constant 5.67e-8
P and T are the dominating factors. Don't worry about emissivity.

Replies

devmor • yesterday at 7:35 PM

Emissivity is an important factor here because as I said, and as the sources I linked for you to reference clearly stated convective radiation is not taking place in space.

Both Google and NASA are worried about this for a reason, if you think they are wrong, you should offer your assistance to them, rather than debating me.

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