Nuclear Power in Space - How RTGs Work

[@SimplySpace]

Hello there! If you liked the video be sure to share it with anyone else who might like it. This was my first all animated video and the channel has come a long way since, so check out more some more Simply Space content and I'll see ya there.

[@MartianWolf]

Excellent video, and amazing animations! I’d love to learn more about how you make these animations!

[@SimplySpace]

I'm using Blender to do all these animations. It's a tricky initial learning curve and each animation presents its own challenges. It's something that you really have to learn by doing. There's a really great community here on KZbin for learning Blender. I uploaded a short video to my Patreon (despite a lack of viewers there) showing how I used the physics simulation tools to create the effect of the Plutonium nucleus being unstable.

[@ImieNazwiskoOK]

Plutonium is also sometimes used in much smaller portions to heat spacecrafts

[@christianv-h3278]

"Don't dig up the big box of plutonium, Mark." Nice video dude :)

[@ThePeterDislikeShow]

I wonder. Could we use an RTG in this way: Inside the RTG there is inert bismuth, but in space, the bismuth is neutron-activated to make polonium-210, which then powers the RTG? In this way, we can get the very high power of polonium-210, along with the nearly permanent bismuth to make more polonium when needed? That way we combine the benefits of high power without the drawbacks of short half-life.

[@dojelnotmyrealname4018]

The thing about the short halflife is that it's both a drawback but also a benefit. The same reaction over a longer time will output less heat flux, so it will require a larger chunk to provide the same heat to power the generator, which makes it heavier. To really extend the lifespan of an RTG without weighing it down you'd prefer to pick a starting material that has a fission chain with a lot of steps, none of which are particularly slow going.

[@MrGabe2211]

Reddit sent me here and you just earned another subscriber. Good video, thanks.

[@SimplySpace]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@limabravo6065]

Ahhhh Mr. Nukey Back in the day around 100 pace maker patients recieved pace makers that instead of batteries that needed constant replacement, they used very small radio isotope thermoelctric genrators. Those patients never needed the power source replaced and a few of those people are still alive today

[@Avi1769]

My favourite space KZbinr ❤

[@Xmonsterr]

Same said well

[@elizogby]

Spacetuber

[@ReflectiveLayerFilm]

Nice. I love the art style and the more technical explanation.

[@SimplySpace]

Thanks, it's great to finally get a video up again.

[@oliverneville5012]

Nice job, the very obvious jump in quality is much appreciated 👍

[@Myles0Harcourt]

Thanks for this explanation. Simple but informative!

[@carlsmith4568]

Absolutely fascinating.

[@lucifersriram4058]

very helpful,fasttracked the idea for my tmrw exam

[@blankblank2345]

amazing how this info about voyager one isn't on wikipedia lol... thx for sharing

[@elnico5623]

This guy is what happens when a ksp player learns blender and video editing and i love it

[@oliverneville5012]

How do the semi-conductors regain electrons after they've all been used?

[@SimplySpace]

They'll flow back around in the circuit, filling the first one back up again. Semiconductors are a a bit out of the scope of this video, but Ben Eater has some brilliant videos explaining how they work.

[@Masonicon]

Nuclear reactors in space uses semiconductors(in the same way solar power plants uses it) as boiler substitutes

[@Mechagears]

i have no idea what your talking about, but this is super interesting

[@erikdejong4509]

Why are the particle moving down because of the fibrating?

[@aaronvogt8820]

The semiconductors only allow electron flow in one direction. The vibrating is energy, so the electrons in that material are wanting to move around but can only move in the "down" direction as it's the only direction permitted by the material the semiconductor is made of.

[@Samtheman0819]

I was wondering what that realy expensive thing in astroneer was!! Thanks

[@user-rq5xn5pd9v]

Great content 👌🏼..... how long it took for the animation ?

[@christianschembri7491]

So Plutonium is used to generate heat, and a "reverse" functioning Peltier effect generates electricity?

[@SimplySpace]

Yes. Although NASA is looking into using Stirling engines for the heat to electricity conversion in future RTG designs.

[@johnpatricklim4509]

RTG was used on the Cassini-Huygens mission right....?

[@MauMauTeixeira]

Excelente vídeo! Canal muito bom! Very good Channel! Contrats!

[@RatRattus]

positive charge does not exist, its just the amount of electrons compared to the surroundings, so something positively charge is acctualy deficient of electrons (bad english im still learning), good video tho

[@anhondacivic6541]

Then, how come the electrons still orbit the nucleus without something attracting the electrons to the nucleus?

[@johnnysilverhand7292]

Nice video brother.

[@Rnjeazy]

Awesome video mate!

[@PK-lc4fx]

Mind-blowing voice, explanation and animation too, which software do you used

[@SimplySpace]

I use Blender for animating

[@abhishekanil4159]

Superb Video! Thank you very much!

[@ericpelky1246]

Sounds correct. Still desire more info and examples?

[@kaismp4]

Are there different types of RTGs? If so, what are they?

[@limabravo6065]

Not really, they’re all basically the same thing, only the size and efficiency varies. One thing that wasn’t mentioned is that the isotope of plutonium used in RTG’s is Pu238 which decays so quickly that a chunk sitting on your desk would be red-hot. A few other unstable elements have been used but the overall design is the same and plutonium 238 is overwhelmingly the fuel of choice and has been since the 60’s

[@SahnigReingeloetet]

I‘ve been thinking about how electric motors, batteries and controllers need to be cooled in order to remain effective. Instead of wasting the heat to the environment by air- or watercooling those components, you could hook those components up to such a thermal generator, using the waste heat of the engine components to trickle charge the battery in a closed loop of sorts. Considering that cooling is what holds back modern batteries and technologies like the axial flux electric motor, that could be an interesting solution. But I don‘t know if the cooling induced by a thermo electric generator would overcome the heating by the trickle charge leading to a sort of battery meltdown where the heat generated would just induce even more heat due to resistance. Or whether the cooling effect would even be sufficient in the first place.

[@dojelnotmyrealname4018]

The thing about Thermocouple generators is that they require a hot end and a cold end. That's not really feasible in atmosphere unfortunately. But it's an interesting idea.

[@ImperialDiecast]

@@dojelnotmyrealname4018 soviets used RTGs here on earth.

[@Peace.Beyond.All.Understanding]

That’s cool!

[@smoothfeeder]

Great videos

[@SimplySpace]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[@smoothfeeder]

New subscriber here 😊

[@robhartle1849]

Is RTG what powers Voyager I and II?

[@timaahhh]

Yes

[@TheEnd-vn9rb]

Is this what’s on the helicopter in Perseverance?

[@SimplySpace]

No

[@atlas8827]

too heavy

[@jasons44]

In space technologies need to hire lobbyists to get you guys money recognition you need a cheerleader

[@rohitshoryachannel31]

IF RTG brust in space can it effect human

[@SimplySpace]

There's no real reason is would burst, there's no fission chain reaction involved. Even if the radioactive material got out (Which would not happen without outside interference, either something smashing into the RTG or someone purposefully tampering with it), it is a small quantity and predominantly emits alpha radiation which is very easily shielded from. RTGs are typically only used on unmanned spacecraft, although some were taken to the Moon during the Apollo program.

[@rohitshoryachannel31]

if RTG are kept in plutonium box can it react with plutonium

[@EduardoEscarez]

@@rohitshoryachannel31 Can't react. Plutonium is keep in a shape and weight that allows to generate heat, but avoid the super-critical state that could lead to an explosion.

[@nuclearTANK]

So don't dig up the box of plutonium, Mark

[@greatvoid2942]

Great bro or sir i can't explain you are awsome...it's the great video that i was want to watch...💙💙💙lots of love for you😊

[@SimplySpace]

Thank you very much! Share the channel if you can, it's the only way small channels like this can grow.

[@justimagine2403]

What mass was lost? A neutron, a spare electron, a proton... what?

[@SimplySpace]

Lost mass, not a lost particle. It goes a bit in the face of how you expect things to work at a macroscopic level. All the particles are still there, but they've transitioned into a more stable state which results in their total mass decreasing despite all of the particles still existing. If you want to find a better explanation than I can give the terms to look up are binding energy and mass defect.

[@kajetus0688]

Me when i unlock these in KSP: WELL time to spam it so i will never ran out of energy

[@tpmiranda]

Something doesn't seem right. You said that some semiconductors will be pushing the negative particles to the cold side. Those, I suppose, are electrons, which we need for an electric flow. Then you said that another semiconductor will be pushing the "positive particles" to the cold side. The only positive particles that I know that aren't positrons are protons. As far as I know, protons don't flow around a material like electrons do. The explanation doesn't seem correct, since in order for a side to become positively charged that same side had to become ionized, i.e. have electrons striped from the atoms and added to other atoms. It also doesn't explain why the first semiconductor becomes ionized, because the electrons aren't the only thing that jiggle more when internal energy is added. The whole atom is affected. In fact, this extra motion lowers electrical conductivity, as electrons have an harder time to jump from atom to atom in the lattice structure. The only way I could see this work would be through the energy and particles given off by the decay of plutonium, as this energy/these particles would have enough power to ionize atoms, stripping them of their furthest electron(s), creating that such electrical potential. But even this doesn't explain how those electrons would eventually move away or closer to the source of radiation, unless the orientation of the semiconductor wouldn't allow charges to move back to their respective ionized atoms...

[@SimplySpace]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_generator

[@lukosejohn6016]

CAN YOU SEN ME THE PPE OF THIS VIDEO

[@leMiG31]

Rest in peace ,oppurtunity (for a red revolution)

[@polized123]

They Use a Bunch if Thermo Electric Generators that is the semiconductor that you are talking about.

[@Jasonth131]

Why we don't use this on Earth for our Nuclear waste

[@ThePeterDislikeShow]

The half-lives of the isotopes are probably too long to make meaningful energy. Pu-238 has an 87-year half-life. Most of the waste we want to get rid of have half-live in the thousands of years.

[@xxxakkkgaming7647]

Tsss they don't release RTG FOR HOUSEHOLD USING

[@Jasonth131]

That's the Problem

[@dizelhanif517]

Unfortunately not all countries are willing to invest in lifesaving tech but rather invest in nuclear weapon

[@space_crab_sfs9300]

Skip 10 seconds into the video to get a surprise

[@cuzzeh2178]

1:34 Ooooooooooooooook!

[@Skiiandme]

This guy is low-key tommyinit

[@Kinann]

Why didn't you simply touch on how thermocouples work because of dissimilar metals? ie, copper/constantan (or others)? You could have shown a simple t'couple hooked up to a voltmeter, then show squeezing it between your fingers to watch the temp go up at the same time explaining the same thing happens many hundreds of time in an RTG simply by replacing your fingers with Pu and the output of the RTG as being the product of many multiple of this??? Your molecular explanation totally missed the point.

[@SimplySpace]

With respect, that's not what this channel is, I'm all about explaining HOW things work. Showing a number on a multimeter isn't an explanation of HOW a thermocouple works, it's just an observation that it does work. The thermoelectric effect occurs at a molecular level, and therefore requires a molecular level explanation.

[@Kinann]

@@SimplySpace Agree. I just think a practical illustration is helpful. I struggled for years trying to understand it until I saw a simple t'couple, then had an epiphany. I wish it would have happened earlier.

[@sicknickeroni]

Came from a game called Astroneer.

[@connorcaffrey1919]

Yo same lol

[@peterstefanik9169]

Oppy rip :( why? :( :( :(

[@surenbono6063]

...we got lotsa heat from coming from the sun ...why not use its heat and light for carbon free energy...never seen one only solar

[@SimplySpace]

I explained that right at the start of the video. The sun isn't always available for long enough periods on the surface of some planets. That's why the Opportunity rover died to a dust storm, it was using solar power.

[@surenbono6063]

@@SimplySpace ...back on earth...I mean ...since we got lot of wasted energy in a form of heat...why not use it as how RTG are implemented on rovers back on earth..?

[@washablejunk281]

No energy is free. If solar were not subsidized by the government they would not be viable at all.

[@surenbono6063]

..we could go carbon free with geothermal if we dig deep enough...why do we not do it?...

[@nguyennam1945]

@@surenbono6063 not efficent. Just like solars panel and wind power. Take alot resource to build and give not enough power.

[@fluffybunny510]

Peltier effect

[@tophan5146]

The way you speak, joke and structure your sentences makes me think you’re inspired heavily by Scott Manley. Or perhaps you’re his teenage son? 😜

[@ady_booth]

i think hes just british

[@gc464]

Narrator just reading text on the screen

[@bobbyrehman5197]

No hard feelings please. You make great videos. People around the globe watch your videos. Those millions of people mostly need to understand the basic simple English pronunciation. This Irish-Aussie pronounciation makes it hard to understand 90% of th speech/narration. Kindly see if you can get a voice bot which would give millions of views. Thank you and good luck!!

[@SimplySpace]

No