this post was submitted on 13 May 2026
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RTGs do get put out in space, however they aren't used for everything. If a single rocket experiences Spontaneous Unplanned Disassembly while carrying an RTG, it's a disaster that spreads radioactive materials.
The entire point of an RTG is to use the waste heat as power, and if I understand RTG design, the cooling fins are to provide the difference in temperature that thermoelectric modules need to produce power. So there isn't a ton of heat that it gives off in general.
Look at the international space station. It has massive radiator panels, and all it needs to do is house humans and the equipment to keep them alive. A lot of bulkiness of space suits is dedicated to heat management.
The #1 product of data centers is massive amounts of equipment-killing heat. That heat either gets radiated via massive radiator panels, or the space data center cooks it's own equipment.