Cooling in space

[goatsandmonkeys]

So imagine you had a computer floating out in space. Is it easier or harder to cool a system? It's much colder (assuming no radiation) but there is almost no atmosphere for convection.

[Worker control]

http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/skylab-2.htm

Hard to cool in space. Hence the need for foil shades to keep the sun off.

[m1st]

^ This is correct. Satellites need a special paint coating that helps them radiate internal heat away, while minimizing radiation taken in by the satellite. Too bad, since a computer in a complete vacuum (and suspended magically) would be the closest thing to being totally, absolutely silent

[goatsandmonkeys]

Satellites are in the earth's orbit and get radiation from the sun. Suppose this is deep space and it has layers of mylar blocking radiation from stars. Can a heatsink transfer heat away if there is no atmosphere?

[Worker control]

Yes. Look up "black body radiation" in your favorite search engine.