4 ms·
That’s one of the things I’m curious about regarding the Curiousity rover’s RTG. How efficient is convection cooling in order to maintain the thermal gradient t
by zeristor 7y ago
That’s one of the things I’m curious about regarding the Curiousity rover’s RTG. How efficient is convection cooling in order to maintain the thermal gradient to generate electricity?
It has radiator fins, so I assume that’s the main form of cooling over radiation; but with such a thin atmosphere I wouldn’t have that it could take away that much heat.
- cbanek 7y agoMany deep space probes in vacuum have RTG's as well (like Voyager), and they can radiate the heat just fine. Also, over time of course the amount of power and heat they generate lessens.
- jandrese 7y agoIsn't the power reduction due to radioactive decay of the fuel? Not that the radiators become less effective over time.
- cbanek 7y agoYes, but RTGs are not particularly efficient, so much of the energy is heat. From wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator#Efficiency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_ge...): efficiencies above 10% have never been achieved and most RTGs have efficiencies between 3–7%