Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma
by The_rationalist on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:17AM
(#27115189)
So with a nuclear fission reactor NASA could make an immortal space probe!
It's very sad that this isn't a project.
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Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma
by dheera on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:21AM
(#27115222)
Nuclear fission reactors have a lot of moving parts, and creating something that lasts 50 years without one of those moving parts failing, unmanned, and subject to the harshness of space, isn't trivial.
Nuclear batteries are extremely reliable though, as they are fully solid state. A Pu-238 battery can emit useful amounts of power for upwards of a century, and there is virtually nothing to break.
Re:Voyager 1 hears the hush of interstellar plasma
by f00zz on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @10:00AM
(#27118205)
The Russians have a few of those: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BES-5