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"But as we improve radioisotope power systems, they can go for longer and longer--powered by heat, even in the cold expanse of space." Since the amount of elec
by smoyer 10y ago
"But as we improve radioisotope power systems, they can go for longer and longer--powered by heat, even in the cold expanse of space."
Since the amount of electricity generated is related to the temperature difference, the fact that space is cold actually helps quite a bit.
- devb 10y agoSpace is extremely cold, but only offers radiative heat transfer, which is not nearly as efficient as convective transfer. It's hard to dump heat into a vacuum.