Google Takes the A.I. Data Center Race to Outer Space

P

philb2

2[H]4U
Joined
May 26, 2021
Messages
3,638
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/...6999&user_id=c383821527c441214d07ce6e4a6ba12a

To be clear, Google is not sending up a full data center — only an experimental precursor to one. MVP contains four specialized computer chips called “tensor processing units,” which have the computing power of one server in a data center. The satellite’s solar panels will supply only about one kilowatt of power — roughly the amount needed to run a hair dryer — to the chips.

But that will be enough for Google to test its hardware against the harsh conditions of space. The satellite will answer simple A.I. queries and operate for a year, though it is set to circle Earth for up to six years. Eventually, it is expected to succumb to Earth’s gravitational pull and burn up as it descends through the atmosphere.
 
I still don't know how they think it feasible to put datacenters in space when they can't even make them profitable here on Earth. And how do they keep them cool? They need gazillions of water to cool AI datacenters, I don't know if they know this but there is no water in space.
 
space-tim-curry.gif
 
M76 said:
I still don't know how they think it feasible to put datacenters in space when they can't even make them profitable here on Earth. And how do they keep them cool? They need gazillions of water to cool AI datacenters, I don't know if they know this but there is no water in space.
Click to expand...
How do you think they keep the ISS cool? A fountain splashing it from Earth?
 
M76 said:
I still don't know how they think it feasible to put datacenters in space when they can't even make them profitable here on Earth. And how do they keep them cool? They need gazillions of water to cool AI datacenters, I don't know if they know this but there is no water in space.
Click to expand...
It's all fake. There's not even any theoretical science to backup the ability to keep them cool in the "vacuum of space". Maybe a few centimeters of aluminum foil? Which doesn't insulate against heat in a vacuum, anyway. In the "vacuum of space", there's no medium to transfer temperatures. In a vacuum, heat is only transferred through radiation. Supposedly, if you're in the shadow of an object, like behind the Earth or Moon shielded away from the Sun, it's close to absolute zero. In the sun near the vicinity of Earth, it's about 248F, and that's all from radiation. You can reflect radiation through something really shiny (aluminum), or absorb radiation through something like large bodies of water or lead. You can depressurize a container to get the heat out, but you can't get cold in. There's no pressurization in a vacuum to get the cold in, because there's no medium in a vacuum. You'd have to generate energy from the radiation or from solar, to power wind or water circulation within the pressurized container, then depressurize to let the heat out. The problem with that is that you'll eventually run out of the store of gas or water, and you'd have to store pressurized containers within pressurized container to re-pressurize, so then you could depressurize again. So the concept of using the coldness of space (which is a vacuum), is bogus. At best, you'd depressurize the container little by little, and let the temperatures of components within the depressurized container cool off and reach an equilibrium where it's cool enough to operate, but not get cold enough where it stops working. When machines get too cold, they stop working. However, you can't get energy to power the machines in the "shadow of space", because there's not enough radiation to collect, and no solar. You'd have to have something long reaching out to the sun's radiation or light, to collect it, and have it transferred to the station, or just have fuel reserves to keep everything powered up. So, you'll have to be at the edge of the shadow of the Earth's orbit for it to possibly work. Cold enough to depressurize the station to a temperature equilibrium, and close enough to radiation or sunlight to collect it for energy to power the system.

The best simplest way to cool and power datacenters would be using hydropower here on Earth.
 
Look at this picture of the ISS and you can see the radiators. Would be exactly the same for cooling any other electronics in space:

1790445184928.png
 
mashie said:
So you say the ISS is a hoax?

Radiation works perfectly fine in vacuum, convection, not so much.
Click to expand...
Probably, but if it is, how would I ever know for sure? It's a one-way communication mechanism. I can't go up there, I'm not an astronaut, and I'd be a "security risk". How does one become an astronaut? Take college courses and just apply? Lol, yeah, right. I just have to take their word for it, and their word means nothing to me.
 
El_Capitan said:
Probably, but if it is, how would I ever know for sure? It's a one-way communication mechanism. I can't go up there, I'm not an astronaut, and I'd be a "security risk". How does one become an astronaut? Take college courses and just apply? Lol, yeah, right. I just have to take their word for it, and their word means nothing to me.
Click to expand...
This discussion is over then. Enjoy your next Flat Earth Society meetup.
 
mashie said:
This discussion is over then. Enjoy your next Flat Earth Society meetup.
Click to expand...
Again, not discussing the science, just resorting to ad hominems. Ignorance at it's best. I have a hamster than can do cartwheels. I've got videos. If you don't believe me, you're a science denier.

Meme_MM_FE.jpg
 
Last edited:
Get some good binocs and go out to touch some grass.
 
longblock454 said:
You can see it with the naked eye! Granted it's just a spot but people take picts of it all the time with telescopes.
Click to expand...
Nobu said:
Get some good binocs and go out to touch some grass.
Click to expand...
Again, not discussing the science. Instead, go outside and look at the ISS. That doesn't explain how radiators cool off without a medium to pass through to wick the heat away from said radiators.

Cars in Siberia still use radiators with fans.

When it's below freezing outside with no wind, take your computer outside and take off all your fans, including your CPU cooler's fan. Test it with your CPU heatsink on, and test it with it off.

It will still overheat with prolonged use despite the freezing temperatures. In order for it to cool, it needs to dissipate the heat faster than the heat is generated. That's just science.
 
M76 said:
I still don't know how they think it feasible to put datacenters in space when they can't even make them profitable here on Earth. And how do they keep them cool? They need gazillions of water to cool AI datacenters, I don't know if they know this but there is no water in space.
Click to expand...

No cops in space.
 
There's a reason the U.S. wants Greenland, and it's not because of "national security".
 
El_Capitan said:
Again, not discussing the science. Instead, go outside and look at the ISS. That doesn't explain how radiators cool off without a medium to pass through to wick the heat away from said radiators.

Cars in Siberia still use radiators with fans.

When it's below freezing outside with no wind, take your computer outside and take off all your fans, including your CPU cooler's fan. Test it with your CPU heatsink on, and test it with it off.

It will still overheat with prolonged use despite the freezing temperatures. In order for it to cool, it needs to dissipate the heat faster than the heat is generated. That's just science.
Click to expand...
Your car's radiator is inside an enclosure with an engine that radiates heat. So is your cpu cooler. That is not (even close to) the same as being mounted outside of an enclosure in space.
 
Nobu said:
Your car's radiator is inside an enclosure with an engine that radiates heat. So is your cpu cooler. That is not (even close to) the same as being mounted outside of an enclosure in space.
Click to expand...
Yeah, thanks Captain. So what medium does space have to cool off the radiator?
 
El_Capitan said:
That doesn't explain how radiators cool off without a medium to pass through to wick the heat away from said radiators.
Click to expand...

It's literally in the name

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation

And believe it or not, space is not actually empty

https://www.verdict.co.uk/quantum-empty-space-vacuum-activity/?cf-view

If space were a true absolute vacuum - how would the sun's rays/energy/radiation reach us (the sun alone aside from all the other planets/bodies being there itself again makes it not a true vacuum) - they need to be in space to get here, thus things are in 'empty' space - there's a whole slew of stuff in the 'emptiness' of space
 
What mechanisms does the sun have for radiation in space? Maybe you should enlighten us?
 
kram182 said:
It's literally in the name

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation

And believe it or not, space is not actually empty

https://www.verdict.co.uk/quantum-empty-space-vacuum-activity/?cf-view

If space were a true absolute vacuum - how would the sun's rays/energy/radiation reach us (the sun alone aside from all the other planets/bodies being there itself again makes it not a true vacuum) - they need to be in space to get here, thus things are in 'empty' space - there's a whole slew of stuff in the 'emptiness' of space
Click to expand...
Nobu said:
What mechanisms does the sun have for radiation in space? Maybe you should enlighten us?
Click to expand...
You get the same source as I do, how can I enlighten you when I have to rely on the same information that's not testable, thus not reproduceable, and is only measured with tools we don't have access to. Oh, I know, because someone that says they're an expert, or someone else says is an expert said so.

The whole point of the scientific method is to disprove what someone states as proof. The whole world is a whole bunch of iocaine powder and Elizabeth Holmes, thanks to Conspiracy deniers.
 
El_Capitan said:
You get the same source as I do, how can I enlighten you when I have to rely on the same information that's not testable, thus not reproduceable, and is only measured with tools we don't have access to. Oh, I know, because someone that says they're an expert, or someone else says is an expert said so.

The whole point of the scientific method is to disprove what someone states as proof. The whole world is a whole bunch of iocaine powder and Elizabeth Holmes, thanks to Conspiracy deniers.
Click to expand...

So then how do you know your own arguments/positions/viewpoints are true? You don't. So therefore your own logic dictates you could be and must accept the possibility of being wrong yourself.

That's what science is.

But you can also send a balloon and camera and measuring equipment yourself up to near-space/stratosphere to detect things there from space absorbed/scattered by our atmosphere yourself. You can time the 'assumed told to you by powers that be' ISS path/trajectory over/around Earth and look at it yourself through a telescope you yourself buy or build.
 
kram182 said:
So then how do you know your own arguments/positions/viewpoints are true? You don't. So therefore your own logic dictates you could be and must accept the possibility of being wrong yourself.

That's what science is.

But you can also send a balloon and camera and measuring equipment yourself up to near-space/stratosphere to detect things there from space absorbed/scattered by our atmosphere yourself. You can time the 'assumed told to you by powers that be' ISS path/trajectory over/around Earth and look at it yourself through a telescope you yourself buy or build.
Click to expand...
Lol, that's not science at all. No point, it's like talking to a wall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top