The paper describes the thermal, thermoelectric and electrical analysis of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) for powering the Mars Rover vehicle, which is a critical element of the unmanned Mars Rover and Sample Return mission (MRSR).
Sectioned at Mid-Plane *Fine-Weave Pierced Fabric, a 90%-dense 3D carbon-carbon composite *Carbon-Bonded Carbon Fibers, a 10%-dense high-temperature insulator *62.5-watt 238 Pu02 pellet • RTPV heat source consists of two GPHS modules, identical to those used on Galileo, Ulysses, and upcoming Cassini missions. • This is a 60% reduction from the five modules used in the RTG design for PFF. • GPHS modules have undergone very extensive safety analyses, tests, and reviews.' These need not be repeated as long as the PFF launch vehicle is no more severe than the Shuttle or Titan-4. *
A Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) with an unsymmetricaily obstructed heat rejection path can have significant axial and circumferential variations in the temperatures, currents, and voltages of its thermoelectric couple network. The present paper describes a methodology for analyzing the thermal and electrical performance of such an RTG, and the development of a computer code for Implementing that methodology. The code derives coupled solutions of the RTG's thermal, thermoelectric, and electrical equations. It accounts for the Peltier effect, Ohmic heating, and the Thomson effect, and treats the electrical power produced In each couple as an effective heat sink. It satisfies the condition that ail parallel couples produce the same voltage, and that all seriesconnected couple groups produce the same current. Finally, the paper illustrates the use of the code by applying it to the detailed analysis of the RTGs for the CRAF and Cassini missions. In each of these, there are two adjacent RTGs which are obstructed by each other and by the nearby spacecraft. The results of the analysis will be used by the spacecraft designers in selecting the location, orientation, and spacing of the two RTGs.
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