As the US Space Program moves into its fourth decade of highly successful utilization and exploration of space, even more ambitious missions are being undertaken and planned. Many of the significant accomplishments of the past and those planned for the future have been, and will continue to be, made possible by the use of radioisotope space power systems. As mission power levels, lifetimes and other performance requirements, such as operation in increasingly hostile environments, become more demanding, the Department of Energy's program for advancing the technology of radioisotope space power systems will continue to support the needs of the NASA and DOD space programs. This paper described the present state-of-the-art radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) which the DOE has developed for use on the upcoming Galileo and Ulysses space exploration missions, as well as the technology improvements planned in the area of heat sources, thermal insulation, thermoelectric conversion and dynamic energy conversion for advanced radioisotope space power systems to be used in future applications. Such applications include NASA's Mariner Mark II spacecraft missions (Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby and Cassini Saturn Orbiter/Titan Probe) in the mid-1990s and the Mars Rover/Sample Return Mission in the late 1990s, as well as higher power civilian and/or highyl survivable military spacecraft programs over the next decade.


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    Title :

    Advanced radioisotope space power system


    Additional title:

    Fortgeschrittene Radioisotopen-Energieversorgungssysteme für die Raumfahrt


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Space Power ; 9 , 1 ; 49-56


    Publication date :

    1990


    Size :

    8 Seiten, 4 Bilder


    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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