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There were indeed real nuclear reactors with thermoelectrics being launched in the cold war. However, thermoelectrics have an efficiency well below 10% (maybe
by wcoenen 7y ago
There were indeed real nuclear reactors with thermoelectrics being launched in the cold war.
However, thermoelectrics have an efficiency well below 10% (maybe a bit better with this improvement but not much). For that reason, future reactors in space will likely use Stirling engines instead.
- mechhacker 7y agoCorrect. Space stirling designs* (and tested engines) have been much more performant than the RTG designs *I spent part of my career working on these devices and saw many of them running in labs