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Tiny Atomic-Power Drive Unit
A very small power generator that is atomic powered. (Read the full article)
| "Oh we may well have them in time, and they do already exist in a form:
"Radio Isotope Generators" or RTGs are electricity generators that can have no moving parts. Commonly used as longterm batteries in space missions - they make energy from the heat difference between the hot internal radioactive isotope and the cooler outside of the device. Older ones use motionless thermocouple devices, but modern ones use Stirling engines, so they have moving parts, but even so NASA has some robust designs that need no maintenance for decades of continual use.
The thermocouple designs are making a comeback though with newer higher efficiency thermocouples.
So we may yet still have tiny AA sized atomic batteries that last for decades." (roid 2/23/2008 6:14:28 AM ) |
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