Working hard gets hot.
Space is not a good place to lose heat. There is no air to carry it away, so a spacecraft running its camera and radio has to get rid of that heat through its own structure. Your team will run the same demanding workload on two spacecraft and see how differently they cope.
Two spacecraft do exactly the same work. Why does one end up so much hotter?
Learning outcomes · Grade 7
What you should be able to do, and the evidence that shows it.
- 01By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to predict which spacecraft will get hotter while running its payload, and demonstrate this by recording that prediction before either run.
- 02By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to compare the hottest temperature each spacecraft reached, and demonstrate this by citing both figures.
- 03By the end of this mission, the learner will be able to recommend one of the two spacecraft for a mission that runs its payload often and name one thing this model does not establish, and demonstrate this by pairing the recommendation with a limitation.
Before we start
A quick check of what you already know. There is no score.
The idea behind the mission
Two spacecraft, the same orbit, the same payload doing the same work. Only the spacecraft is different, so anything that changes is caused by the spacecraft.
Heat has nowhere to go
On Earth, warm electronics lose heat to the air around them. In space there is no air. Heat can only escape by being radiated away from the spacecraft surface, so a spacecraft that works hard heats up - and a bigger structure has more surface to lose it from.
Predict before you run
Before you run anything: which spacecraft do you think will get hotter, and why?
Which spacecraft will get hotter running the same payload, and why?
At least 20 characters — say what you expect and why.
Configure the mission
These are the two set-ups you will compare. They are fixed on purpose: if only one thing differs between your runs, anything that changes was caused by it.
Baseline case
Small satellite (1U)
Candidate case
Larger satellite (3U)
- Write your prediction first.
- The workload is identical for both, so the difference is the spacecraft.
- The temperature and battery numbers come from a model, not from a real spacecraft.
Units stay attached to every result: angles in degrees (°), time in seconds (s), power in watts (W), energy in watt-hours (Wh), battery state in percent (%), and elevation in degrees (°) where available.
Run the Digital Twin
Run the small satellite first, then the larger one. The workload is identical.
Baseline
Small satellite (1U)
Candidate
Larger satellite (3U)
Run the baseline first so you have something to compare against.
Read the evidence
Compare the peak temperatures first, then the battery. Both are costs of doing the same work.
Run the Twin to produce evidence.
Make the engineering decision
Which spacecraft would you send, and which number in your evidence supports that?
Which spacecraft do you recommend for a mission that runs its payload often?
What this does not prove
What this mission shows
- My prediction
- The temperature and battery comparison between the two spacecraft
- Where each number came from
- One thing this model does not cover
What it does not establish
- The temperature and battery numbers are produced by a model. Nothing here was measured on a real spacecraft.
- The two spacecraft are teaching profiles, not real hardware designs.
- This lesson does not show that either design would survive a real mission.
Show what you understood
Formative feedback for you and your teacher. There is no official grade.
Both spacecraft ran the same payload. Why did one get so much hotter?
Which pair of numbers shows the cost of running a payload often?
Which spacecraft would you send on a mission that runs its payload often, and which number backs that up?
Name one thing this model does not tell you about a real spacecraft in orbit.
Revisit the mission evidence
Formative · not an official grade
No formative evidence has been recorded yet.
Next: Write your prediction, run both set-ups, then pick the evidence that supports your answer.
Formative guidance only. Official grade: none. A teacher still reviews your written reasoning.