Michael Meyer, about Phoenix and MSL |
Michael Meyer, about Phoenix and MSL |
Sep 25 2006, 10:01 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 153 Joined: 11-December 04 Member No.: 120 |
http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Managing_...ssions_999.html
Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, spoke at the recent Viking anniversary celebration. One remarkable quote: "Considering how long the Spirit and Opportunity rovers have lasted beyond their design lifetimes, it almost boggles the mind to think how long MSL could last. It may be there to greet the astronauts when they arrive on Mars." That's what I call optimism. I always thought that the lifespan of an RTG was pretty predictable and that in case of MSL it lasted for about 2 earth years. Maybe he's talking about the solar array powered version? |
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Guest_Analyst_* |
Dec 23 2006, 02:54 PM
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Guests |
MSL will still have a battery, as all other RTG powered spacecraft have - to allow for peak power useage over and above the RTG output. Voyager did not have a battery, I am pretty sure Pioneer 10/11 didn't have one too. Not sure about Galileo and Ulysses, but I guess both didn't have one eighter. Cassini has one to power the radar. New Horizons doesn't have one. I believe the ALSEPs did not have a battery too. It's pretty uncommon for RTG spacecraft to have a battery. Analyst |
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Dec 23 2006, 05:10 PM
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Dublin Correspondent Group: Admin Posts: 1799 Joined: 28-March 05 From: Celbridge, Ireland Member No.: 220 |
It's pretty uncommon for RTG spacecraft to have a battery. That is probably true but a power subsystem that enables power acumulation enables much higher peak power loads than the peak power output from your RTG and that is a very good thing for a rover even if it is not hugely important for orbiter\flyby space craft. It wouldn't be a very effective use of the resources when you have 2400 whr of power per sol but you keep yourself limited by a 100watt peak load. |
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