@davidgerard one word, "convection".

@davidgerard

I was expecting the cooling problem. The most overlooked of all: it's hard to cool things in space. Never mind the power problem.

Instead of putting data centers in space, work towards extremely low-power analog computing, with graded voltage rather than the energy-wasteful binary.

@davidgerard nice writeup! One additional point:

"space based datacenters [...] would be so expensive that they would have to fly for a long time in order to be economically viable”

That's not how GPUs work. Anything you shoot up there would be outdated within max. 2 years. Same in terrestrial data centers. The buildings and racks will last, but the GPUs will be written off within a very short time. Nobody wants to spend gigawatts powering a slug.

@davidgerard It would have been nice if it were a good idea. Use the power where it is generated. And deorbiting data is relatively easy.
Shame about all the details that a 15 minute search could have hinted at. And are neatly laid out in this article. Including the fact that it’s not even easy to get the data down.

@davidgerard Not specifically about DCs in space, but imagine if that were the case here: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/facebook-blames-major-outage-on-maintenance-work-effectively-disconnecting-facebook-data-centers-globally/

@davidgerard I've not understood why I have to write an essay about why datacenters in space are a bad idea. I mean, it should be pretty f*cking obvious, shouldn't it?

@davidgerard
Have we just accidentally bypassed the "brilliant"idea of data centers under the world's oceans?

@davidgerard their true move is to say later, space have no country so we do anything we want with the data.

It's a move to bypass law and tax, nothing technical in it.

@davidgerard
"Thermodynamics? We dont need them." - some orbit bro

@davidgerard reminds me of the mirrors in space idea, which is also a terrible idea.

@davidgerard
If all the tecnobros are launched to space along the first datacenter, I'm all in for it.

@davidgerard

I had a reporter for Scientific American ask me about claims of putting data centers in space.

I recommended simply quoting @sundogplanets .

@davidgerard

Well, now…..

If we can require them to go really into space like Mars or some planet orbiting Betelgeuse or something…
**and ** we require/encourage their CEOs, investors, and corporate henchman to go with them?

No laws!! No taxes!!! Come to Viltvodle VI!!!

The Golgafrinchams had the right idea they just sent the wrong people. 🤷🏻‍♀️

https://hitchhikers.fandom.com/wiki/Golgafrinchans

@davidgerard I haven’t seen a writeup on it, but the obvious problem is that you have to get all of this solar capacity and heat sinking capacity into space in the first place. That’s a *LOT* of mass! And boosting mass is insanely resource-intensive, as explained by the rocket equation.