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Half-life of plutonium-238 is 87.7 years so there should be approximately half of the original power left after that time. Nowadays the power of the device is a
by tarre 14y ago
Half-life of plutonium-238 is 87.7 years so there should be approximately half of the original power left after that time. Nowadays the power of the device is about 75 % of original.
- InclinedPlane 14y agoYou'd think so, in practice it doesn't work that way. A significant factor is degredation of the thermocouples due to heat and radiation. This causes the power output to drop faster than would be expected due to pu-238 decay alone. Right now current power levels are around 63% compared to launch, which would be the expected power level in the 2030s if radioactive decay were the only factor.