Is this the piece of junk that can only run for 15min at a time before it overheats? They probably could have done some more analysis before launching it into space.. Like put the radiator in a vacuum chamber maybe? Or do some thermal modelling? Or did they know it would do this and launch it anyway? Would love to know why.
Could you provide a source for that claim?
Why yes, I sure can!
> The chips can operate for about 15 minutes in space before needing to be shut down so they can cool off, said Travis Beals, Google’s senior director of product management for Project Suncatcher.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/technology/google-suncatc...
Thanks!
The point is not to run longer than 15 min. They knew this before even launching it.
Part of development is prototyping and testing. This is part of a process to learn and inform the design of later versions.
We would have very little science or technology if we did not do such tests.