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Why can't they just use nuclear power? Didn't the viking probes from the 70's use that? I might be wrong, but I thought that curiosity actually did use nuclear.
by sovande 14y ago
Why can't they just use nuclear power? Didn't the viking probes from the 70's use that? I might be wrong, but I thought that curiosity actually did use nuclear.
- comicjk 14y agoLike the Viking probes, Curiosity uses the heat from natural decay, not fission. It's a much more foolproof system than a reactor, but it only generates 110W, meaning it needs batteries to handle bursts of demand over 110W.
- InclinedPlane 14y agoCuriosity does use a nuclear power source (an RTG) but it only provides a little over 100 Watts of power. As I said, the primary use of the RTG is not to drive the rover but to power the batteries over night to drive the rover during the day. Even so, this still amounts to less than one horsepower available to drive a nearly one tonne vehicle.