Power Source
It was suggested that the Astrobiology Field Laboratory use radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) as its power source, like the ones to be used on the Mars Science Laboratory. The radioactive RTG power source was to last for about one Martian year, or approximately two Earth years. RTGs can provide reliable, continuous power day and night, and waste heat can be used via pipes to warm systems, freeing electrical power for the operation of the vehicle and instruments.
Read more about this topic: Astrobiology Field Laboratory
Famous quotes containing the words power and/or source:
“O God, protect me from my friends, that they have not power over me.
Thou hast giv’n me power to protect myself from thy bitterest enemies.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
“If, for instance, they have heard something from the postman, they attribute it to “a semi-official statement”; if they have fallen into conversation with a stranger at a bar, they can conscientiously describe him as “a source that has hitherto proved unimpeachable.” It is only when the journalist is reporting a whim of his own, and one to which he attaches minor importance, that he defines it as the opinion of “well-informed circles.””
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)