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Solar Power for Spacecraft

This is a news story, published by Yahoo, that relates primarily to RTG news.

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Powering spacecraft
The Conversation

The Conversation

•

Science

Science

Radioisotope generators − inside the ‘nuclear batteries’ that power faraway spacecraft

The Conversation
Summary
Nutrition label

85% Informative

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators, or RTGs, are essentially nuclear-powered batteries.

They rely on radioactive decay of elements to produce heat and eventually electricity.

RTGs can provide power for decades while hundreds of millions to billions of miles from Earth .

Current technology can produce a few hundred watts of power, but not enough to power a standard laptop.

The radioactive decay of plutonium is constant every second of every day for decades .

Over the course of about 90 years , only half the plutonium in an RTG will have decayed away.

An RTG requires no moving parts to generate electricity, which makes them less likely to break down or stop working.

RTGs have been key to the success of many of NASA 's solar system and deep-space missions.

VR Score

84

Informative language

81

Neutral language

56

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

55

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

External references

34

https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/radioisotope-power-systems/power-radioisotope-thermoelectric-generators/#h-systems-under-developmenthttp://theconversation.com/us?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=related-link&utm_campaign=related-link-0&utm_content=article-248504https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/radioisotope-power-systems/about-rps/https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/radioisotope-power-systems/missions/#activehttp://theconversation.com/scientists-call-the-region-of-space-influenced-by-the-sun-the-heliosphere-but-without-an-interstellar-probe-they-dont-know-much-about-its-shape-227131?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=related-link&utm_campaign=related-link2&utm_content=article-248504https://www.flickr.com/photos/inl/6349104616https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/radioisotope-power-systems/resources/#3d-viewerhttp://theconversation.com/what-the-voyager-space-probes-can-teach-humanity-about-immortality-and-legacy-as-they-sail-through-space-for-trillions-of-years-177513?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=related-link&utm_campaign=related-link1&utm_content=article-248504https://benjaminroulston.comhttps://theconversation.com/profiles/benjamin-roulston-1539784?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=related-link&utm_campaign=byline-link&utm_content=article-248504https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/mission-overview/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMfVZDi9i7Yhttps://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/what-radioisotope-power-systemhttps://www.epa.gov/radiation/radioactive-decayhttps://science.nasa.gov/mission/new-horizons/https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/what-is-radiation/ionising-radiation/alpha-particleshttps://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/radioisotope-power-systems/safety/https://science.nasa.gov/missions/voyager-program/voyager-1-now-most-distant-human-made-object-in-space/https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/where-are-voyager-1-and-voyager-2-now/http://theconversation.com/nuclear-rockets-could-travel-to-mars-in-half-the-time-but-designing-the-reactors-that-would-power-them-isnt-easy-236463?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=related-link&utm_campaign=related-link0&utm_content=article-248504https://science.nasa.gov/planetary-science/programs/radioisotope-power-systems/about-plutonium-238/https://theconversation.com/institutions/clarkson-university-4276?utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=related-link&utm_campaign=byline-link&utm_content=article-248504https://www.planetary.org/space-images/decay-of-pu-238-to-u-234https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/spacecraft/#h-radioisotope-power-system-rpshttps://science.nasa.gov/resource/what-is-the-seebeck-effect/https://theconversation.com/how-much-energy-can-people-create-at-one-time-without-losing-control-156827https://science.nasa.gov/resource/solar-system-temperatures/http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/what-powers-a-spacecraft/en/https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/spacecraft-nuclear-batteries-could-get-a-boost-from-new-materials/https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/3273-npo-45219https://theconversation.com/why-batteries-come-in-so-many-sizes-and-shapes-225325https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/news/geforce-rtx-40-series-ultra-efficient-beyond-fast/https://science.nasa.gov/mission/voyager/where-are-voyager-1-and-voyager-2-now/#instrument-status

Source diversity

14

science.nasa.govtheconversation.comwww.flickr.combenjaminroulston.comwww.youtube.comwww.energy.govwww.epa.govwww.arpansa.gov.auwww.planetary.orgcreativecommons.orgspaceplace.nasa.govwww.jpl.nasa.govwww.techbriefs.comwww.nvidia.com

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