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The Multihundred-watt radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MHW RTG) is a type of US radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) developed for the Voyager spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. [1] The Voyager generators continue to function more than 45 years into the mission. [2] Radioisotope thermoelectric generators for the Voyager program.
Radioisotope power has been used on eight Earth orbiting missions, eight missions to the outer planets, and the Apollo missions after Apollo 11 to the Moon. The outer Solar System missions are the Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, Ulysses, Galileo, Cassini and New Horizons missions. The RTGs on Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 have been operating ...
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.
Of the 10 science instruments Voyager 1 started its journey with, four are currently gathering data on its cosmic environment, and each year, the spacecraft loses more of its precious power supply.
As Voyager 1 and its twin probe, Voyager 2, have aged, the mission team has slowly turned off nonessential systems on both spacecraft to conserve power, including heaters.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft is functioning normally again after the aging probe’s dwindling power supply triggered a communications blackout. It’s one of several challenges faced by the ...
Voyager 1 ' s extended mission is expected to continue to return scientific data until at least 2025, with a maximum lifespan of until 2030. [13] Its radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) may supply enough electric power to return engineering data until 2036.
Mission control on Earth receives that data in binary code, or a series of ones and zeroes. ... the Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, launched in 1977 and are the longest operating spacecraft in ...