Orbital has designed various self-supporting radioisotope power system options utilizing STC 55-W Stirling converters for possible application to NASA’s Europa Orbiter mission. The preferred generator design with mechanical coupling though the heat source housing was analyzed. The various parameters studied include radiator facesheet thickness, radiator size, separation distance between spacecraft and radiators, Sun angle, and mission phase with different solar constants and radioisotope thermal power. Analytical results show that the Europa EOM power goal of can be met comfortably with the preferred power system of 2 generators, each with 2 GPHS modules and 2 STC 55-W Stirling converters.
Performance of the preferred self-supporting radioisotope power system with STC 55-W Stirling converters
SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL FORUM - 2000 ; 2000 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 504 , 1 ; 1252-1259
2000-01-19
8 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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