Instead, curiosity and its youngest perseverance and sisters each use their mmrtg nuclear power source, which is based on decomposing plutonium pastilles to create energy and recharge the rover batteries. Providing enough power to the numerous scientific instruments of Rovers, MMRTGs are known for their longevity (the twin spatial Voyager has been based on RTG since 1977). But as plutonium disintegrates over time, it takes more time to recharge the batteries of curiosity, leaving less energy for science every day.
The team carefully manages the Rover’s daily budget, taking into account in each device that is based on the batteries. Although these components have all been widely tested before launch, they are part of complex systems that only reveal their quirks after years in the extreme Martian environment. Dust, radiation and sophisticated temperature oscillations bring out on -board funds to which the engineers could not expect.
“We were more like prudent parents earlier in the mission,” said Reidar Larsen of the NASA jet propulsion laboratory in southern California, who built and operated the Rover. Larsen has led a group of engineers who have developed the new capacity. “It is as if our teenage rover matured, and we trust it to assume more responsibilities. As a child, you could do one thing at a time, but as you become an adult, you learn to do several tasks. ”
More efficient science
Generally, JPL engineers send curiosity a list of tasks to perform one by one before the rover ends its day with a nap to recharge. In 2021, the team began to study if two or three rover tasks could be combined safely, which reduces the curiosity of time is active.
For example, Curiosity radio regularly sends data and images to an orbiter who passes, which relays them to Earth. Could the rover speak to an orbiter by driving, moving his robotic arm or slamming images? The consolidation of tasks could shorten the plan every day, requiring less time with radiators and instruments in a ready to use state, reducing the energy used. The tests have shown a safe curiosity, and all these elements have now been successfully demonstrated on Mars.
