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Discuss “How Things Work: radioisotope thermoelectric generators”

When you imagine a deep-space probe, what do you see? A big metal box, a forest of antennas, and a pair of solar panels, right? Wrong. Contrary to the stereotype, almost any probe traveling into space will not use solar panels as its power source. The energy from the sun at this distance is simply too small. An alternative is needed: something that is reliable, has a long-life, and is lightweight. What can we do? American engineers answered this very question in the early 1960s with the radioisotope thermoelectric generator, or RTG.

RTGs work by converting the heat given off by a radioactive isotope into electricity. To understand this process, it helps to understand what a radioactive isotope is. One might say they are out of their element!...

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