Rob TurpinIt's @nyrath 's fault I think about cooling fins.
Interstellar ship - work in progress.
A little maintenance unit. Got to open those pod bay doors some how.
Jeff Zugale - Z Factory@thisnorthernboy well done mate!! 😎👍
@thisnorthernboy also I’d like to recommend to you the BlenderBros, along with their plugins BoxCutter and HardOps. Their site is https://www.blenderbros.com/, and their YouTube channel is full of free gold.
@jeffzugale Cheers Jeff. Exactly the kind of thing I need. Thanks!
@thisnorthernboy you know you can hit me up with questions anytime! 👊😎👍
Alastair Temple@thisnorthernboy fanns Rob, you have really taken to it like a duck to water this time!
@smilingdemon Cheers Al. Really enjoying it. Currently building a Greeble Kit.
@thisnorthernboy you are doing it properly! A greeble kit is something that I always think I should do and then never get round to...
Winchell Chung ⚛🚀Sorry.
Don't blame me, blame the laws of physics.
But just think of all the street cred you will have with the hard-scifi team.
@nyrath Good point.
(moved)Galbinus Caeli 🌯@nyrath @thisnorthernboy laws of physics? Can i get presidential immunity from those?
The Enraged Raccoon@nyrath @thisnorthernboy I literally just got out of a work meeting where I had to explain you can’t see laser beams in space., just where they’re hitting something.
Some people...
Apparently the others at the meeting have never played with a cat using a laser pointer.
@thisnorthernboy @nyrath don’t blame the messenger, it’s the physical laws of the universe that require them! 😆
@thisnorthernboy @nyrath and of course he already said exactly that 😆
@thisnorthernboy @nyrath you need fewer fins, fins rotated 90 degrees, or fins divided into at least three rings. The surface of each fin should be pointed directly out to space, otherwise the fins are heating each other.
@SkipHuffman @nyrath Dammit. Good point. There will be another ring of fins, so I'll adjust when I add those. Thanks.
I'll just mention that some historical radiator designs tried to cram in lots of radiators by interspersed-reflectors preventing radiator-cross-heating. See image. Feel free to totally ignore this comment.
For inspiration, you can go to the link and admire the pictures. Do not bother with the pesky equations.
@nyrath @thisnorthernboy @SkipHuffman I’m so glad I was able to make myself not mention this part of the physics 😆
@nyrath Cheers fella. That’s helpful.
I have just one more tip that you are free to totally ignore.
If the spaceship has a nuclear engine, it is a good idea to trim the heat radiators into a triangular shape.
The idea is to prevent the radiators from sticking out of the safe "shadow" cast by the anti-radiation shadow shield atop the nuclear engine.
Otherwise the radiators will backscatter deadly atomic radiation into the ship and kill the crew.
https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/radiation.php#backscatter
Isaac Ji KuoWell ... this depends. I think the original design is okay.
See, it is labelled an "interstellar" ship, which implies cruise duration on the order of decades. As such, long term GCR shielding is a must, and this requires MUCH thicker shielding than the wimpy neutrons from a mere fission reactor (or even the fast neutrons of a fusion reaction).
The original design appears to have propellant tanks surrounding a central core (which may include the crew compartment?).
However, the number of radiator fins does seem excessive, and they do have a lot of mutual irradiation near the center. A smaller number of fins with larger area would be more optimal...
...well, you'd have to study it in more detail to figure out what's ideal. Hard to just guesstimate.
Tim@thisnorthernboy @SkipHuffman @nyrath Pg 31 of this document has a recent nuclear electric concept design. (It also has chem prop).
@ezwal @thisnorthernboy @SkipHuffman
This is from Human Exploration of Mars Design Reference Architecture 5.0, nuclear electric version
https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns3.php#marsdranep