Performance of the Multi-Hundred Watt Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator /MHW/RTG/ power source for the LES 8/9 satellites

Kelly, Charles E.; Whitmore, C. W.

doi:10.2514/6.1978-534

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The xenon filled RTG power decayed due to helium contamination of the xenon causing the coefficient of thermal conductivity for the gas fill to increase which accounted for ~0.3 watts daily power loss. Prior RTG missions experienced a similar power loss due to dopant precipitation effects 16 . Daily dips in power were attributed to slight changes in the ambient thermal conditions inside the launch vehicle fairing.…”

Section: Pre-launch Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…8. The initial power dip to 137 W (almost 20% loss) was due to the removal of the air conditioning and the resulting heating inside the launch vehicle fairing 16 . Upon separation of the launch vehicle fairing at launch plus 3 minutes (L+3 minutes), the RTG power begins to climb on a characteristic exponential rise, settling out at 245.7 watts of electrical power measured at the spacecraft power bus at L+8 hours.…”

Section: Launch Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Transit spacecraft, a previous APL mission with a SNAP RTG power source, showed a similar relationship between RTG power output and solar incidence during an example orbit 17 . The LES spacecraft data showed a power variation due to solar flux affecting the outer case temperature of the MHW-RTG 16 . Previous data from the Ulysses mission reported in Ref.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Pluto-New Horizons RTG and Power System Early Mission Performance

Ottman¹,

Hersman²

2006

4th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference and Exhibit (IECEC)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

On January 19, 2006, the Pluto-New Horizons spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) with a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) as the power source and a 30V power regulation and distribution system designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Pluto-New Horizons is the flagship spacecraft of NASA's New Frontiers program of medium-class interplanetary missions and targets the first reconnaissance of Pluto and its moon, Charon, and the Kuiper Belt. Arrival at Pluto is scheduled for July, 2015 at which time the spacecraft will have traveled 3 billion miles and be almost 32 AU from the sun. Due to the extended mission duration and extreme distance from the sun, a RTG was chosen as the spacecraft's power source. RTG missions place complexity on the spacecraft power system design due to their unique power characteristics and limited opportunities for test prior to pre-launch field operations. The RTG integration and test with the spacecraft results are presented along with the spacecraft power system performance during launch and in the early mission phase. These in-flight operational results demonstrate a fully functioning power system that will supply the spacecraft with safe and reliable power during the exploration of the farthest reaches of the solar system.

show abstract

Section: Pre-launch Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Launch Performancementioning

confidence: 99%