A multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) powers Curiosity, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Mars Science Laboratory rover on Mars, and will also power the upcoming Mars 2020 and Dragonfly missions. Recent studies have determined the feasibility of integrating a second thermoelectric circuit of bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) into the MMRTG design in order to improve the beginning-of-life (BOL) and end-of-design life (EODL) performance. Initial studies indicate that the integration of a second stage Bi2Te3 thermoelectric circuit could potentially provide an approximate 20% increase in power output at BOL and EODL. In order to provide a low-risk system upgrade approach, a concept was refined to integrate the second stage Bi2Te3 thermoelectric circuit on the external MMRTG housing. However, this concept is accompanied by a number of performance trades, the most notable being a 36.1 kg mass increase, which would reduce the BOL specific power from 2.37 to 1.68 We/kg. This paper summarizes the results of that study, and discusses activities that should be pursued to validate the technical feasibility and potential performance gains that could be obtained.
Concept for a Cascaded Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
2020-03-01
3838258 byte
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
8.0901 Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG) Program Overview
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004
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