Radiator Panel Assembly
Deployable Body-Mounted Radiator Panels
The radiator panel assembly consists of aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels with embedded heat pipes or fluid channels, designed to reject 20 to 30 kWt of waste heat into space via thermal radiation to maintain Ark thermal balance. Radiative heat rejection on the Moon is constrained by the lunar surface infrared albedo, which imposes an effective thermal sink of approximately 250 K that diminishes efficiency relative to deep space. The 336-hour day-night cycle produces extreme environmental temperature swings, while regolith burial of the Ark limits installation to exposed areas where accumulating surface dust progressively degrades panel emissivity.
Radiator panels rejecting 20-30kWt waste heat to space via thermal radiation
Purpose
Provide sufficient radiating area to reject all Ark waste heat maintaining thermal balance
Context
Child of L2-TCS-RAD in the Active Thermal Control System
Principles
- ▸Stefan-Boltzmann law: Q=epsilon*sigma*A*(Thot^4-Tcold^4) governs radiative heat rejection
- ▸Aluminum face-sheet/honeycomb sandwich panels with embedded heat pipe or fluid channels
- ▸Panel area sized for worst-case hot conditions (lunar noon, all systems running)
- ▸Two-sided radiating increases effective area where geometry permits
Typical implementations
- ▸ISS EATCS radiator panels (77m2 total, ammonia fluid loop)
- ▸James Webb sunshield/radiator design
- ▸Commercial GEO satellite deployable radiator panels
Lunar considerations
- ▸Lunar surface IR albedo (~250K effective sink) reduces radiator effectiveness vs deep space
- ▸Dust accumulation degrades emissivity requiring periodic cleaning
- ▸336-hour day/night cycle means radiator environment temperature swings dramatically
- ▸Regolith burial of Ark reduces radiator mounting options to exposed areas
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | Radiator panels rejecting 20-30kWt waste heat to space via thermal radiation |
Physical
| materials | Al 6061 face sheets, Al honeycomb core, AZ-93 white thermal coating |
Interfaces
Provides
- Primary heat rejection to space environment
Requires
- Hot fluid from thermal loop for heat rejection
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "Radiator Panel Assembly" (L3-TCS-RAD-PANEL). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-TCS-RAD-PANEL
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.