General Discussion

I hope I’m intelligent enough to be clear. I apologize in advance for any gross inaccuracies, but I think I am correct in a “big picture” sense.

Computer chips generate heat. Heat can travel a couple of different ways. One way is by being absorbed by something touching a hot object. Some materials absorb better than others. This is why your pan handle lets you pick up a super-hot skillet.

In space, there’s a vacuum. There is nothing for the heat of the electronic chips (and other things) to transfer into.

The heat has to leave the chip by the other way heat travels… it’s radiated. This is much more inefficient. The chip can’t shed heat fast enough to avoid breaking.

I hope that makes sense. There are ways to combat this, since we have satellites and such in space right now, but they operate under constraints that a data center can’t have.

/pendantry