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What is the difference between RHU & RTG ?Yeah, just now I went through r/ISRO, RHU is confirmed to fly on a TDS satellite, but whether RTG will fly or not isn't confirmed
What is the difference between RHU & RTG ?Yeah, just now I went through r/ISRO, RHU is confirmed to fly on a TDS satellite, but whether RTG will fly or not isn't confirmed
May be already fly, which we dont know.Yeah, just now I went through r/ISRO, RHU is confirmed to fly on a TDS satellite, but whether RTG will fly or not isn't confirmed
RHU is used for heating, while RTG is used for generating electricity.....RHU is heater, while RTG is a generatorWhat is the difference between RHU & RTG ?
RHUs are small devices that use the decay of plutonium-238 to provide heat to keep spacecraft components and systems warm so that the equipment can survive long enough in the cold space environment to complete its mission. This heat is transferred to spacecraft structures, systems, and instruments directly, without moving parts or intervening electronic components.RHU is used for heating, while RTG is used for generating electricity.....RHU is heater, while RTG is a generator
This is last update in RTG
ISRO, BARC join hands to develop nuclear engines for rockets
Updated - July 16, 2023 at 05:40 PM. | Chennai, July 16
To develop radio thermoelectric generators
BY M RAMESH
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| Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
India’s space agency, ISRO, is jointly developing a nuclear-powered engine along with Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), it is reliably learnt.
Chemical engines, such as those that power the thrusters in satellites, are fine up to a point, but if you want to send a spacecraft deep into space, such as into interplanetary missions, they will not do — neither can they carry that much fuel nor can they be solar powered because sunlight will not reach a solar panel at such long distances.
Hence, nuclear-powered engines. According to sources, ISRO-BARC are developing what are called Radio thermoelectric generators (RTGs). “The work has already begun and has been identified as a major task that has to be completed soon,” said the source.
The nuclear engines are not to be thought of as nuclear fission reactors that generate electricity. The RTGs use radioactive materials, such as Plutonium-238 or Strontium-90, which release heat as they decay.
Essentially, the engine contains two parts — the radioisotope heater unit (RHU) which generates heat — and the RTG, which converts the heat into electricity.
Thermocouple
This heat is transferred to a ‘thermocouple’ — a material that develops a voltage if there is a heat gradient across it. To put it in simple terms, think of it as a rod — if one end is hot and the other end is not, there will be a voltage across the rod (Seebeck Effect). The voltage can be harnessed to charge batteries that can provide motive force to a satellite. ISRO is targeting a 5W RTG, it is learnt.
“RTGs are independent of solar proximity and planetary alignment. This characteristic would help in minimising constraints like the ‘launch windows’ that the scientists have to operate within,” says Nitansha Bansal, a cyber security specialist with Columbia University, in an article for the Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
RTGs, however, are not entirely new. US spacecrafts such as the Voyager, Cassini and Curiosity have been powered by RTGs
PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 Mission: The launch of Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, is scheduled forSeptember 2, 2023, at11:50 Hrs. IST from Sriharikota. Citizens are invited to witness the launch from the Launch View Gallery at Sriharikota by registering here:
Commencement of registration will be announced there. https://isro.gov.in/Aditya_L1.html
Copied images here from URL above..PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 launch campaign gallery
Aditya-L1 Gallery
www.isro.gov.in