GPHS-RTG
GPHS-RTG or General Purpose Heat Source Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. These are a specific American design of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) used on space missions (e.g. Cassini-Huygens (x3), New Horizons (x1), Galileo probe (x2), Ulysses probe (x1) ).[1]
Each GPHS-RTG has a mass of about 57 kg and generates about 300 Watts of electrical power at the start of mission (5.2 We/Kg), using about 7.8 kg of Pu-238 based fuel which produces about 4,400 Watts of thermal energy.[2]
The GPHS-RTG use SiGe thermoelectric elements which are no longer in production.[3] The thermoelectric elements convert the heat energy from the isotope into electricity. Missions after 2010 requiring RTGs, such as the Mars Science Laboratory, will use the MMRTG instead. A future power source which also uses the GPHS is the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator, or ASRG.
The GPHS-RTG used on the Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, and Pluto New Horizons missions were designed and built by General Electric Space Division (later part of Martin-Marietta, subsequently part of Lockheed Martin), in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Fueling of these generators was performed by Department of Energy laboratories in Miamisburg, Ohio and Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Note that the GPHS are cuboid although they contain cylindrical Plutonium based pellets.
[edit] References
- ^ a b G. L. Bennett, et al., Mission of Daring: The General-Purpose Heat Source Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, AIAA 2006-4096, 4th International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference and Exhibit (IECEC), 26–29 June 2006, San Diego, California (Accessed 8 September 2010)
- ^ http://www.fas.org/nuke/space/bennett0706.pdf "Space Nuclear Power" G.L.Bennett 2006
- ^ http://pdf.aiaa.org/preview/CDReadyMIECEC06_1309/PV2006_4187.pdf
[edit] External links
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