Spacecraft 'Nuclear Batteries' Could Get a Boost from New Materials

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No extension cord is long enough to reach another planet, and there's no spacecraft charging station along the way. That's why researchers are hard at work on ways to make spacecraft power systems more efficient, resilient and long-lasting.

"NASA needs reliable long-term power systems to advance exploration of the solar system," said Jean-Pierre Fleurial, supervisor for the thermal energy conversion research and advancement group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "This is particularly important for the outer planets, where the intensity of sunlight is only a few percent as strong as it is in Earth orbit."

Researchers are thus studying the use of advanced materials called skutterudites in Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators; the principle of such system would be use the heat generated from the decay process of some radioisotopes as fuel to produce useful electricity in a spacecraft.

To read more please visit http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Spacecraft_Nuclear_Batteries_Could_Get_a_Boost_from_New_Materials_999.html

Source: Energy Tech