Design, Analysis, and Optimization of a Radioisotope Thermophotovoltaic (RTPV) Generator, and its Applicability to an Illustrative Space Mission
Paper presented at the 45th Congress of the IAF in Jerusalem, Israel, October 1994. The paper describes the results of a DOE-sponsored design study of a radioisotope thermophotovoltaic generator (RTPV), to complement similar studies of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) and Stirling Generators (RSGs) previously published by the authors. To focus the design effort, it was decided to direct it at a specific illustrative space mission, Pluto Fast Flyby (PFF). That mission, under study by the JPL, envisages a direct eight to nine-year flight to Pluto (the only unexplored planet in the solar system), followed by comprehensive mapping, surface composition, and atmospheric structure measurements during a brief flyby of the planet and its moon Charon, and transmission of the recorded science data to Earth during a six-week post-encounter cruise.
- Research Organization:
- Fairchild Space and Defense Corporation
- Sponsoring Organization:
- NE Office of Space and Defense Power Systems
- OSTI ID:
- 1033365
- Report Number(s):
- IAF-94-R1.363; FSC-ESD-217-94-526; Orbital ID: 8576; Call Number: ESD files
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Radioisotope thermophotovoltaic system design and its application to an illustrative space mission
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