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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. This type of generator has no moving parts and is ...
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 ...
GPHS-RTG. 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. The GPHS-RTG was used on Ulysses (1), Galileo (2), Cassini-Huygens (3), and New Horizons (1).
Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power. 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 ...
Yellow: Heat isolation. Orange: Inner radiation protection (Tungsten) Red: Radionuclide heat source (Strontium-90) Pink: Thermoelectric unit. Mounted above the assembly are fins for cooling, outlined in black. The Beta-M is a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) that was used in Soviet -era lighthouses and beacons.
Radioisotope thermoelectric generators for the Voyager program. Each RTG has a total weight of 37.7 kg, including about 4.5 kg of Pu-238 [ 2 ] and uses 24 pressed plutonium-238 oxide spheres to provide enough heat to generate approximately 157 watts of electrical power initially – halving every 87.7 years.
An atomic battery, nuclear battery, radioisotope battery or radioisotope generator uses energy from the decay of a radioactive isotope to generate electricity. Like a nuclear reactor, it generates electricity from nuclear energy, but it differs by not using a chain reaction. Although commonly called a batteries, atomic batteries are technically ...
Silicon-germanium (SiGe) thermoelectrics have been used for converting heat into electrical power in spacecraft designed for deep-space NASA missions since 1976. This material is used in the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that power Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, and New Horizons spacecraft.