Why does the shiny surface of a spacecraft cut down heat loss?

Question

Please help =]

Answer 1

you ever seen a heat-sink? they're as 'crinkly' as possible to expose as much surface area as possible to the air to get heat-energy to disperse as easily as possible....thinking it's the same thing with a shiny surface but in reverse - the less crinkles the less surface area exposed so the less heat lost?

Answer 2

Since there's no air, the only energy that can move through space is radiant. (Conduction and convection are out because it's a vacuum).

With radiant energy, a flat-black surface radiates the most. A shiny surface radiates the least. Similarly, a shiny surface will reflect away energy that shines on the vehicle.

Answer 3

A black body is the best radiator
and increasing the surface area pro rata
(we add fins to heatsinks to increase surface area)

so to preserve heat loss the reverse is true

and a white shiny surface will reflect heat too

Answer 4

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