What is powering the Voyager 1? It has been travelling in the space for almost 50 years.
In: Technology
Both Voyager probes power themselves with radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), which convert heat from decaying plutonium into electricity.
For the 5 year old: Voyager uses energy from special chemicals to make electricity. Like batteries make a flashlight work.
Voyager-1 is powered by 4.5 kg of Plutonium-238. There was some controversy when it was launched because people worried what would happen if the launch needed to be scrubbed and exploded. But fortunately it did not.
Inertia!
It got off to a good start with a big-ass rocket.
Then, it stole a little momentum from a couple of planets in our solar system.
Probably picked up a tiny amount of acceleration from the solar wind from our sun.
It’s been cruising ever since.
Edit: whoops, looks like I misunderstood the question. My answer relates to its velocity, not its onboard power.
If you’re referring to what’s powering the scientific equipment onboard: an RTG. It’s a radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Thermocouples convert heat into electrical energy and the heat comes from the decay of a chunk of radioactive material. Energy output gradually decreases over time as the material decays, so individual components are progressively shut down to reduce total system energy consumption.
If you’re referring to how it’s still travelling at immense speed, inertia and a practical lack of resistance due to the vacuum of space
A radio isotope thermoelectric generator. A slug of plutonium surrounded by heat to electric converters. As the plutonium decays, it produces heat.
Powering as in moving it is just momentum, in space there is virtually nothing to slow it down; the electrical systems and being powered by a mini nuclear reactor/battery.
A [radioisotope thermoelectric generator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioisotope_thermoelectric_generator). It’s a bunch of fissile material that slowly decays and releases heat. A thermoelectric device uses the temperature difference between that and a radiator to generate electricity.
To explain the batteries in a different way.
Think of a nuclear power plant. A power plant drives a reaction to make uranium or plutonium break down fast, which makes heat, which boils water, which spins a turbine, which spins a generator to make electricity.
A radioisotope thermoelectric generator cuts out all the moving parts from a power plant at the expense of not getting a lot of power out of the unit. On the upside the battery lasts for a very long time. You basically have something that stays “hot” (or warm enough) and something cold and you use the difference to make electricity
Hopes and dreams, mostly.
But really, it’s a radiothermal generator that uses decaying nuclear material to generate electricity.
Does voyager still exist ? At this point did it ever ? They are saying it will last at least another billion years. This speck in the Universe won’t have any significance 100,000 years from now. Not even a trace or a memory or meaningful myth, meaningful documentation. So after a billion years ? No more meaningful than a single atom out there. If it won’t exist even as a trace in that future; If it’s gone then what makes us believe it exist now ? Does anything really ? All is but a fleeting entropic statistic. They are not permanent. They all go away. We all go away.
Voyager was powered by rocket engines and gravitational slingshots
Latest Answers