Thermal Management Question in Spacecraft

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Tanzim Kawnine
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Hello guys,

Below I am presenting a question related to thermal management in spacecraft . Perhaps many of you might find it interesting! And this could be a real-life problem for thermal engineering in a spacecraft . So, the question is following:

An instrument dissipates 10W and, in order for its detector to operate effectively, must be kept below -20°C. Its baseplate has a contact area of 175mm by 125mm and is bolted to a radiator with a chotherm interface. If the spacecraft is orbiting Mars (at a sun distance of 1.5 AU) and the radiator is facing the planet, estimate the size of radiator required. Assume the following :
• Albedo of Mars is 0.29 and its temperature is -60°C. The solar constant is
1369 W/m2
• The interface conductance between the unit and the radiator is 250 W/(m^2)*K
• Emissivity of the radiator is 0.8, absorptivity is 0.08


Also, An uncertainty margin of 10°C is to be used!

I found out the size of the radiator should be about 0.105 m^2.
What about yours? I would appreciate your help here. Thanks in advance.

Regards
TK
 
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