Re: superhero space navigation

On Apr 9, 6:10=A0pm, Andrew Plotkin <erkyr...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Here, Bryan Derksen <bryan.derk...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:

> > WizWom wrote:

> > > Er, other than CPU cooling by fan, the laptop would be unaffected by
> > > hard vacuum.

> > I doubt it. There are lots of sealed and nearly-sealed components that
> > would be put under stress by sudden exposure to vacuum; the hard
drive,
> > the LCD screen, the battery, and so forth. Something's bound to pop.

> And if the hard drive *isn't* sealed, it'll kill itself. The heads
> float over the surface by ground effect.

Hard drives aren't sealed, and they will indeed fail due to the
lack of air cushion on the heads.  All hard drives have a small
hole to equalize pressure--without it, changes in air pressure
can easily dent the large thin top plate, causing it to touch the
rotating drive hub.  This hole is covered by a filter material to
keep out dust, but this won't keep the air in.

That said, not all laptops have a hard drive.  Many use solid
state storage.  A more serious, unavoidable cause of failure
would be overheating--especially of the CPU.

Isaac Kuo