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SiGe has been used as a material in RTGs since 1976. Each mission that has used RTG technology involves exploration of far-reaching regions of the solar system. The most recent mission, New Horizons (2005), was originally set for a 3-year exploration, but was extended to 17 years.
Diagram of a MMRTG. The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) is a type of radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) developed for NASA space missions [1] such as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Energy's Office of Space and Defense Power Systems within the Office of Nuclear Energy.
Diagram of an RTG used on the Cassini probe [1] Diagram of a stack of general-purpose heat source modules as used in RTGs Image of a plutonium RTG pellet glowing red hot.. GPHS-RTG or general-purpose heat source — radioisotope thermoelectric generator, is a specific design of the radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) used on US space missions.
Diagram of an RTG used on the Cassini probe. A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect.
The higher conversion efficiency of the Stirling cycle compared with that of radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) used in previous missions (Viking, Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, New Horizons, Mars Science Laboratory, and Mars 2020) would have offered an advantage of a fourfold reduction in PuO 2 fuel, at half the mass of an RTG.
The Systems Nuclear Auxiliary POWER (SNAP) program was a program of experimental radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) and space nuclear reactors flown during the 1960s by NASA. The SNAP program developed as a result of Project Feedback, a Rand Corporation study of reconnaissance satellites completed in 1954. [ 1 ]
Multi-mission Modular Spacecraft, also known as the MMS, was originally designed by NASA to serve the largest array of functions for the space program possible to decrease the cost of space missions. [1] It was designed to operate in four distinct areas of missions. [1]
The multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator of Mars Science Laboratory, sent to the surface of Mars to power that robotic rover Dragonfly is designed as a rotorcraft lander, much like a large quadcopter with double rotors, which is known as an octocopter. [ 3 ]