Re:Mars Helicopter successfully completed its second flight
by simonh on Thursday April 22, 2021 @06:23PM
(#26908877)
I'm not sure how heat would turn wheels directly. You need to convert the heat into either mechanical or electrical energy somehow. Any such system involves tradeoffs in efficiency (in terms of useful energy captured) against weight and reliability.
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Re:Mars Helicopter successfully completed its second flight
by XorNot on Friday April 23, 2021 @12:22AM
(#26910968)
Specifically you wind up needing grease/oil more moving parts. The failure rates of reaction wheels on orbital craft speak well to the relative difficulty of keeping moving parts moving in space-environments without ongoing maintenance.