Miniature spacecraft offer the potential to greatly reduce mission costs, but today there is no flight qualified power source that could operate a microspacecraft during a journey to the outer planets. The authors describe the Milliwatt Isotope Power Source (MIPS), a concept capable of reliable, long term electrical power generation in the milliwatt range. Utilizing existing radioisotope heater unit heat source technology and proven thermoelectric energy conversion module technology, a MIPS package about the size of a D-cell battery could deliver about 30 milliwatts of electrical power for several decades and weigh 70 grams. Such a power source could be used to power miniature instruments such as seismometers, propel a microrover or provide decentralized power aboard a more conventional spacecraft. Also, reliance on flight-qualified heat source technology and the small radioisotope inventory required are attractive safety considerations. (1 Reference).
BT - American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings: 10th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion , pt.2 C1 - 10th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion. Albuquerque, NM, USA. Inst. Space Nucl. Power Studies. NASA. et al. 10-14 Jan. 1993 DA - 1993/// LA - eng N2 -Miniature spacecraft offer the potential to greatly reduce mission costs, but today there is no flight qualified power source that could operate a microspacecraft during a journey to the outer planets. The authors describe the Milliwatt Isotope Power Source (MIPS), a concept capable of reliable, long term electrical power generation in the milliwatt range. Utilizing existing radioisotope heater unit heat source technology and proven thermoelectric energy conversion module technology, a MIPS package about the size of a D-cell battery could deliver about 30 milliwatts of electrical power for several decades and weigh 70 grams. Such a power source could be used to power miniature instruments such as seismometers, propel a microrover or provide decentralized power aboard a more conventional spacecraft. Also, reliance on flight-qualified heat source technology and the small radioisotope inventory required are attractive safety considerations. (1 Reference).
PY - 1993 EP - 70 EP - 765+ T2 - American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings: 10th Symposium on Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion , pt.2 TI - Milliwatt isotope power source for microspacecraft UR - http://cvining.com/system/files/articles/vining/Chmielewski-SNPP-1993.pdf VL - 271 ER -