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Rtg

All articles tagged with #rtg

science1 month ago•53 min saved

NASA's Big Bang power move buys Voyager 2 another year

NASA engineers have extended Voyager 2’s mission by reallocating power from nonessential systems to preserve the craft’s three remaining instruments, using a carefully balanced power-saving maneuver called the Big Bang. The reallocation should keep the instruments operating for at least another year despite shrinking RTG power. Voyager 2 is now about 13.2 billion miles from Earth, with communications taking roughly 20 hours one way, and NASA plans to apply a similar strategy to Voyager 1.

via Yahoo|

#big-bang-maneuver #nasa #power-saving

space1 month ago•5 min saved

NASA's 'Big Bang' Power Swap Extends Voyager 2's Deep-Space Mission

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory used a 'Big Bang' power-saving plan on Voyager 2 to shut down nonessential systems and swap in lower-power options, conserving energy from its aging radioisotope thermoelectric generators to extend the science mission by about a year; Voyager 1 will undergo the same adjustment soon.

via SciTechDaily|

#nasa #power-management #rtg

space1 month ago•14 min saved

Voyager 2 Survives on a Big Bang Power Swap, Extending its Interstellar Mission

NASA performed a coordinated 'Big Bang' power-and-thermal swap on Voyager 2, freeing almost 10 watts to keep its three active instruments on for at least a year despite ~4 watts/year decline from the RTGs at 143 AU. It’s not a repair, but a load reallocation to manage heat and power on a spacecraft with razor-thin margins, no repair port, and no spare parts. The rearrangement preserves the magnetometer, plasma-wave subsystem, and cosmic-ray instrument, with Voyager 1 slated for a similar reconfiguration and the possibility of continued operation into the 2030s if conditions hold.

via Space Daily|

#big-bang-power-swap #interstellar-mission #nasa

space2 months ago•10 min saved

Heat Switch Extends Voyager 2 Mission By About a Year

JPL engineers used a “big bang” heater switch on Voyager 2 to keep its electronics and fuel lines warm, freeing enough RTG power to extend the mission by about a year, with a similar upgrade planned for Voyager 1.

via Hackaday|

#extended-mission #jpl #nasa

space4 months ago•15 min saved

The Long Quiet Goodbye of Pioneer 10: Heat, Time, and a Silent Voyager

Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, sent its last faint signal in January 2003 from about 12 billion kilometres away as its power from plutonium-238 RTGs faded; the eleven-hour transmission highlighted a graceful end to a 30-year mission, later explained as heat radiation affecting the craft’s trajectory rather than new physics, and the probe remains a silent, drifting artifact with a gold plaque honoring human exploration.

via Space Daily|

#deep-space-network #pioneer-10 #plutonium-238

science1 year ago•4 min saved

NASA's Curiosity Rover Celebrates 13 Years on Mars with New Upgrades

NASA's Curiosity rover, celebrating 13 years on Mars, has received a software update that improves its efficiency by enabling multitasking and better power management, extending its operational lifespan despite the finite plutonium power source.

via Jalopnik|

#curiosity-rover #mars #nasa

space3 years ago•7 min saved

NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft to continue full science operations until 2026 with new power strategy.

NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 space probes have been operating for over 45 years, thanks to the radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) that provided 470 W at launch. Recently, NASA announced that Voyager 2 has a reserve power source that will postpone the shutdown of more science instruments for a few more years. The Voyager's Multi-Hundred Watt (MHW) RTGs are the predecessor to the RTGs that are still powering the New Horizons probe after 17 years and the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) for over 10 years, showing the value of RTGs in long-term exploration missions.

via Hackaday|

#nasa #power-systems #rtg