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4 votes

How brightly does Venus's hot surface glow at night? Could you see it? Could you see well enough to walk around?

Yes. For those who are sceptical on theoretical grounds, lock yourself in a completely dark room and wait for dark-adaptation to set in. Plug in a soldering iron and wait for it to heat up; you will ...
2 votes

Why is Adiabatic wall temperature taken as the driving temperature in rocket engines?

The reason why $T_{aw}$ is used for $T_{ref}$ is simple. your solid temperature at surface can't go over your $T_{aw}$ - that's the maximum that you will observe. In terms of $h$, it's logical since ...
7 votes
Accepted

Why is insulation used in spacecraft thermal control?

First. Keep in mind that temperature is a measurement of the kinetic energy of the particles in the environment. This means that despite the high temperature, the particle density in space is so low ...

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