[NIAC 2023] Observe the Universe from Deep Space
Universe Today Podcast
00:00
The RTG and the Voyager Research Grant
The RTG, the kind of thing that's on curiosity or perseverance or Voyager, that is that is producing heat attached to a thermocouple. You swap out the plutonium for a for a radioactive element that is decaying a lot faster so that you get more power. And then you bolt that on to an ion thruster. So this thing is just designed to just pump out electricity as fast as possible and accelerate this relatively tiny spacecraft with this miniature payload to enormous velocities.
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