News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on How the Curiosity Rover's Nuclear Battery Works. Parent comment

Re:How the Curiosity Rover's Nuclear Battery Works by JoeAltmaier on Monday August 06, 2012 @06:23PM (#4347629)
Wheels need friction to develop acceleration. So its a negative not a positive.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:How the Curiosity Rover's Nuclear Battery Works by maxerickson on Wednesday August 08, 2012 @10:44AM (#4355778)
It's only a negative if the vehicle needs to accelerate quickly. So sufficient friction is sufficient, not a negative or a positive.

Given that the batteries store roughly 2.4 kW-h, it's probably safe to assume that the max drive power is less than 500 watts (2.4 kW-h / 10 hours -> 240 watts). Earth side electric vehicles commonly have drive power over 100 kilowatts.

[ Parent | on HN ]