Requirements and Designs for Mars Rover RTGs

Schock, Alfred; Shirbacheh, M; Sankarankandath, V

doi:10.2172/1033420

Cited by 3 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The "baseline" Mars Rover RTG design is described in the preceding paper [1], and depicted there in Figures 10 and 11. It contains eighteen General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules and 576 standard unicouples.…”

Section: Mass Breakdown Of Baseline Rtgmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the use of four short RTGs leads to a net mass increase of only 7.2 kg or 6.2%. Tables 1 and 2 presented the mass summaries of the unicouple RTGs depicted in Figures 10 and 11 of the preceding paper [1]. Table 3 presents the mass summary of the multicouple RTG depicted in Figures 13 and 14, and compares it to that to the baseline unicouple RTG.…”

Section: Mass Of Half-length Rtgmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The preceding paper [1] in these proceedings described generic designs of RTGs to power the Mars Rover vehicle of the Mars Rover Sample Return (MRSR) mission under study at JPL. Two specific designs were described: one based on standard unicouples, large assemblies of which have demonstrated stable performance in very lengthy space and ground operations (>100,000 hrs); and one based on standard multicouples, which have demonstrated stability in much shorter tests (6000 hrs).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But, based on their extensive experience on numerous other RTG development programs, they are convinced that a program to develop a flight RTG employing this material would not come close to meeting the JPL-envisaged M RSR schedule described in Figure 2 of Reference [1].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Thermal and electrical analysis of Mars Rover RTGs

Schock

Skrabek

Proceedings of the 24th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

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The RTG designs described in the preceding paper in these proceedings were analyzed for their thermal and electrical performance. Each analysis consisted of coupled thermal, thermoelectric, and electrical analyses, using Fairchild-generated specialized computer codes. These were supplemented with preliminary structural and mass analyses. For each design, various cases representing different operating conditions (water-cooled/radiation-cooled, BOM/EOM, summer/winter, day/night) and different thermoelectric performance assumptions (from conservative to optimistic) were analyzed; and for every case, the heat flow rates, temperatures, and electrical performance of each layer of thermoelectric elements and of the overall RTG were determined.The analyses were performed in great detail, to obtain accurate answers permitting meaningful comparisons between different designs.The results presented show the RTG performance achievable with current technology, and the performance improvements that would be achievable with various technology developments.

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Section: Mass Breakdown Of Baseline Rtgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mass Of Half-length Rtgmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Thermal and electrical analysis of Mars Rover RTGs

Schock

Skrabek

Proceedings of the 24th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

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“…The electrical, thermal, and structural analyses of the RTGs are described in companion papers presented at this conference [1,2] BACKGROUND The long-term goal of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is to expand human presence beyond earth and into the Solar System [3].…”

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confidence: 99%

Requirements and designs for Mars Rover RTGs

Schock

Sankarankandath

Shirbacheh

Proceedings of the 24th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference

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The current-generation RTGs (both GPHS and MOD) are designed for operation in a vacuum environment.The raultifoil thermal insulation used in those RTGs only functions well in a good vacuum.Current RTGs are designed to operate with an inert cover gas before launch, and to be vented to space vacuum after launch. Both RTGs are sealed with a large number of metallic Crings.Those seals are adequate for retaining the inert-gas overpressure during short-term launch operations, but would not be adequate to prevent intrusion of the Martian atmospheric gases during long-term operations there. Therefore, for the Mars Rover application, those RTGs must be modified to prevent the buildup of significant pressures of Mars atmosphere or of helium (from alpha decay of the fuel).In addition, a Mars Rover RTG needs to withstand a long-term dynamic environment that is much more severe than that seen by an RTG on an orbiting spacecraft or on a stationary planetary lander. This paper describes a typical Rover mission, its requirements, the environment it imposes on the RTG, and a design approach for making the RTG operable in such an environment. Specific RTG designs for various thermoelectric element alternatives are presented.

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