Statistics – Applications
Scientific paper
Jan 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aipc..880..339h&link_type=abstract
SPACE TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL FORUM-STAIF 2007: 11th Conf Thermophys.Applic.in Micrograv.; 24th Symp Space Nuc
Statistics
Applications
Spaceborne And Space Research Instruments, Apparatus, And Components
Scientific paper
The New Horizons mission to Pluto (PNH) was launched on January 19, 2006, from the Kennedy Space Center with one General Purpose Heat Source-Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (GPHS-RTG) providing electrical and thermal power for the spacecraft. The spacecraft is scheduled to swing by Jupiter in February 2007 on a gravity assist trajectory, and is expected to reach the Pluto-Charon system by July 2015. As of beginning of space vacuum operation, the GPHS-RTG was providing close to 246 watts of electrical power and should be near 200 watts at close approach to Pluto. The GPHS-RTG for PNH is of essentially the same design as was used successfully on the Galileo, Ulysses and Cassini missions; however, time, resource, and environmental constraints imparted some unique aspects to the development program. The unavailability of a full complement of fresh plutonium oxide fuel, in particular, made it necessary to recover older inventory fuel from a 20-year old un-flown GPHS-RTG that had served as a backup unit for prior GPHS-RTG missions. The combination of fresh and older fuel for the PNH GPHS-RTG required special test and assembly activities, with the knowledge that the unit would be operating under somewhat off-nominal conditions than its predecessors. We highlight some of these assembly and test differences from the ``in family'' processing and performance of the previous GPHS-RTGs.
Bohne William A.
Harmon Alan B.
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