those cumbersome solar panels?
2007-08-17 05:07:55 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
That will give you heat. Now what would you do with it?
If you built a nuclear reactor system to generate electricity, it would need to be monitored and controlled 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Even when it's shut down you need a skeleton crew to operate it and monitor/control chemistry. It would keep the astronauts too busy to do anything else.
2007-08-17 05:13:46 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Well, with a reactor you're still going to need a generator (with lots of moving parts) and a cooling system, and a condensor, not to mention getting the fissionable material lofted without GreenPeace getting involved. And, there's the little problem of getting the reactor into orbit (and, someday, it'll be coming down again). Depending on the length of the station's lifespan, you'll probably need to re-fuel the thing at least once.
That... Or loft a few solar panels...? If you're headed to Jupiter, you'll need a reactor. If you're hanging around Earth... panels is the way to go.
2007-08-17 08:47:22 · answer #2 · answered by quantumclaustrophobe 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any space-craft that will be used at a distance from the sun, out to, about the orbit of Mars, may effectively use solar panels to generate electricity (this includes any satellites in earth orbit).
Solar panels are very cost effective compared with a nuclear reactor.
Even for deep space missions (to the outer planets and beyond) a RTG device is better than a full-up reactor. The RTG uses a small radioactive source to heat up a moderator material, and that heat is turned in to electricity through use of thermocouples (using the Seebeck effect).
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2007-08-17 05:50:45 · answer #3 · answered by tlbs101 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The solar panels may be cumbersome but they are efficient at converting solar power into electricity by using the photovoltaic module. A nuclear reactor would produce excessive heat that could damage equipment. A byproduct of nuclear energy is nuclear waste.
2007-08-17 05:24:15 · answer #4 · answered by Troasa 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because there is an international convention that states that nothing nuclear will be used in space.
2007-08-17 05:18:32 · answer #5 · answered by elflaeda 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A nuclear reactor will destroy everything.
2007-08-17 08:39:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
http://consoles.real-incentives.com/?referral=25503
2007-08-17 05:14:54 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋