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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tralfamadore
Posts: 10,343
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Tralfamadore
Posts: 10,343
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Mars rover Curiosity equipped with nuclear power supply
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Originally Posted by Jayson
How do they power this thing? strange nuclear batteries that never run out of power?
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Quote:
NASA's new rover Curiosity is equipped with a plutonium nuclear energy source to power the probe as it explores the surface of Mars.
The rover is powered by radioactive plutonium-238. As the plutonium undergoes decay, its heat is converted into electricity to power the rover’s electronic devices. According to the Idaho National Laboratory, which built the power source, NASA chose a nuclear generator for the rover because it had several advantages over the solar panels previously used to power Mars rovers. The plutonium core allows the probe’s instruments to run even before it is deployed on the surface, even during atmospheric descent and landing. The nuclear source is also less affected by weather and daylight conditions on Mars, factors that have hampered previous missions, as when the twin Mars Exploration Rovers encountered dust storms that covered their solar panels while operating on Mars from 2004 to 2011.
The nuclear core can provide power for up to fourteen years, although the rover is expected to operate for approximately two years.
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Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/314887#ixzz23RkoKYq0
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