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No fission reaction, just radioactive decay in Dragonfly's case. It will use an RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator) not unlike Curiosity and most missio
by Sharlin 7y ago
No fission reaction, just radioactive decay in Dragonfly's case. It will use an RTG (radioisotope thermoelectric generator) not unlike Curiosity and most missions to the outer planets to date.
- thatcherc 7y agoJust a note - radioactive decay is is fission, since it involves a nucleus splitting apart.
- Sharlin 7y agoNo, not quite. One of the types of radioactive decay is spontaneous fission, but it's not relevant in the context of RTGs. Alpha decay (the emission of a 4He nucleus) might in principle be called "fission" but in practice is not. Beta decay involves no splitting whatsoever.
- elihu 7y agoRTGs are heavy; I suppose this means that it'll park itself for a long time to charge its batteries and then do a quick flight and repeat. Which sounds like it could work pretty well for this use case. On the other hand, a hot-air balloon kept aloft by excess heat from radioactive metal might be a more attractive option if we were selecting proposals based on awesomeness.