How exactly do radiators work? Can I use them to help with aerobraking?

[p1t1o]

Regarding re-entry and occlusion: Parts inside fairings and bays are supposed to be shielded no matter what (beware the fiendish bugs, though).

Thanks Laie!

Would you be able to briefly clarify the "fiendish bugs" I should look out for?

(I do have FAR installed which I understand has some effect on occlusion/shielding.)

[Sharpy]

I must be missing something - I have a huge 150mass ship with 4 LV-Ns plus full ISRU setup. After launching, it refueled in minmus, then it visited gilly, ike, dres, and pol, extracting and refueling along the way. I have now returned it to kerbin orbit. No radiator and no dangerous overheat, even at 13min+ burn times. Are radiators even necessary?

If the LV-N is attached to a large part, to which many other parts are attached, especially strongly radiating ones like solar or wing parts, it will never overheat. OTOH if you put four nukes on a quadcoupler attached to a small tank - boom. Same if you try to use the outdated trick of putting a cubic octagonal strut between the LV-N and the tank. It has tiny thermal capacity and will overheat presto.

[Laie]

Would you be able to briefly clarify the "fiendish bugs" I should look out for?

Sudden and inexplicable overheating (with the "ignore max temp" cheat you may see insane temperatures in the trillions). This can happen anywhere anytime, but it seems more likely to happen with shielded parts. And Service Modules will collide with parts inside or near the bay, leading to violent disassembly if you're not careful.

Many a vessel has been crushed by Service Module doors; cargo bays are safe in that regard. I think it's no coincidence that the former are Roverdude's work while the latter are from Porkjet. Roverdude *loves* eager colliders.