Posted by admin | Posted in Solar Power | Posted on 16-03-2009
Tags: books, documents, news, science, web2.0
What fuel source to use unmanned probes?
I just read about the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 unmanned probes that travel outside the limits of our solar system. They have been traveling since 1977. What energy source used? Why can not my car uses the same material? (the second question was only half joking!)
One thing to keep in mind is that space is an almost perfect vacuum, ie virtually no power drag acting on a moving probe. By Newton's second law, the probe will not be reduced: a = F / m Clearly, when the force F is zero, so it is acceleration, a. The Voyager spacecraft are moving at constant speed, since no force acts on them to stop. The probes were originally released in the Centaur rocket, which burned liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen. This initial burst of speed, along with a few and the aid provided by gravity the planets, given the probe with its current speed. After separating from the rocket, the Voyager uses a radioisotope thermoelectric generator for power electric. The generator contains a sample of plutonium-238-enriched plutonium (IV) oxide. The spontaneous radioactive decay of plutonium atoms in the sample generates a moderate amount of heat that is converted into electricity by a thermocouple and heat sink. As to your second question, I do not think you'd like radioactive plutonium in your car, especially considering how large a sample would be needed to power it.
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