Does the ISS need air conditioning/ heating?

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Since it is in space there is no where for the heat to escape as there is no air in space to transmit that heat.
So does that mean that the ISS gets incredibly hot due to the people on there, all the electronics etc.
When it comes to cooling it, how do the pull it off as an air conditioner needs to get rid of the heat somehow.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

If you study a [photo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/View_of_the_ISS_taken_during_Crew-2_flyaround_%28ISS066-E-081311%29.jpg) or diagram of the ISS, you’ll notice that in addition to the large orange/blue solar panel arrays, there are multiple large white flat panels projecting from the station’s structure. These are thermal radiators containing an ammonia cooling loop that soaks up heat from the station’s interior and dumps it into space as infrared radiation, using the large surface area of the radiator panels to its advantage.

> To keep the internal temperature within workable limits, a passive thermal control system (PTCS) is made of external surface materials, insulation, and heat pipes. If the PTCS cannot keep up with the heat load, an External Active Thermal Control System (EATCS) maintains the temperature. The EATCS consists of an internal, non-toxic, water coolant loop used to cool and dehumidify the atmosphere, which transfers collected heat into an external liquid ammonia loop. From the heat exchangers, ammonia is pumped into external radiators that emit heat as infrared radiation, then back to the station. The EATCS provides cooling for all the US pressurised modules, as well as the main power distribution electronics of the S0, S1 and P1 trusses. It can reject up to 70 kW [of heat].

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station#Power_and_thermal_control
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/External_Active_Thermal_Control_System

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