why solar power is over-rated

J

Jack Ryan

Guest
I had a fascinating discussion with a NASA engineer.
He said that one problem with a Mars mission is that
dust would make solar panels useless in as little as
3 months!
They would like radioisotope thermoelectric generators
instead but they are politically incorrect now.
 
I had a fascinating discussion with a NASA engineer.
He said that one problem with a Mars mission is that
dust would make solar panels useless in as little as
3 months!
Click to expand...

** IIRC, the "Mars Rover" ran for much longer than that.


They would like radioisotope thermoelectric generators
instead but they are politically incorrect now.
Click to expand...

** Yeah - those damn Martians are so PC.


..... Phil
 
On 05-Feb-15 7:30 PM, Jack Ryan wrote:
I had a fascinating discussion with a NASA engineer.
He said that one problem with a Mars mission is that
dust would make solar panels useless in as little as
3 months!
They would like radioisotope thermoelectric generators
instead but they are politically incorrect now.
Click to expand...

So would I. I had to get up on the roof and hose and brush down my solar
panels last week. At least on Mars they don't get bird shit building up
on them.
 
On Thu, 5 Feb 2015 06:30:21 -0500 (EST), Jack Ryan
<noreply@remailer.cpunk.us> wrote:

>I had a fascinating discussion with a NASA engineer.

Amateur troll.

He said that one problem with a Mars mission is that
dust would make solar panels useless in as little as
3 months!
They would like radioisotope thermoelectric generators
instead but they are politically incorrect now.
Click to expand...

You might like to explain how I can run a rural property on nothing
more than solar panels (even though I have a couple of hydro
generators providing power as well). I run about 2400W 24/7 just with
water pumps alone during spring and summer. Yes, solar power is so
over rated.
 
On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:16:10 +1100, Trevor Wilson wrote:


**It's has nothing to do with political correctness and a whole lot to
do with the fact that Plutonium Pu238 has a half life of 87.74 years and
one of the most deadly substances known. Given the fact that any humans
venturing to Mars will be a couple years away from medical treatment, it
makes perfect sense to minimise risks. Pu238 is a significant risk.
Click to expand...

And risk was the reason they abandoned the idea of launching nuclear
waste into the sun. too many launches end up as ball of fire spreading
goodness knows what.
 
On 7/02/2015 1:35 PM, news13 wrote:
On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:16:10 +1100, Trevor Wilson wrote:


**It's has nothing to do with political correctness and a whole lot to
do with the fact that Plutonium Pu238 has a half life of 87.74 years and
one of the most deadly substances known. Given the fact that any humans
venturing to Mars will be a couple years away from medical treatment, it
makes perfect sense to minimise risks. Pu238 is a significant risk.

And risk was the reason they abandoned the idea of launching nuclear
waste into the sun. too many launches end up as ball of fire spreading
goodness knows what.
Click to expand...

**It's more than just risk. Launching stuff outside Earth's gravity is
very expensive. It's cost too. Nuclear/thermal power makes sense for
deep space (unmanned) probes, since Sunlight is not all that plentiful.

--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com
 
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 07:29:36 +1100, Andy Wood wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:16:10 +1100, Trevor Wilson wrote:

**It's has nothing to do with political correctness and a whole lot to
do with the fact that Plutonium Pu238 has a half life of 87.74 years
and one of the most deadly substances known. Given the fact that any
humans venturing to Mars will be a couple years away from medical
treatment, it makes perfect sense to minimise risks. Pu238 is a
significant risk.

In the "believe it or not" category:

Between 1970 and 1988 hundreds of patients were implanted with heart
pacemakers powered by Plutonium "batteries". Some recipients lived with
those for over 20 years.
Click to expand...

Is that like being in a tank with a gold fish Vs being in a tank with a
great white shark?

Face it, if you need a pacemaker, you're pretty fscked anyway and
miniscule radiation exposure isn't going matter any way. They just don't
want the devices to be cremated with the body.
 
On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:16:10 +1100, Trevor Wilson wrote:

**It's has nothing to do with political correctness and a whole lot to
do with the fact that Plutonium Pu238 has a half life of 87.74 years and
one of the most deadly substances known. Given the fact that any humans
venturing to Mars will be a couple years away from medical treatment, it
makes perfect sense to minimise risks. Pu238 is a significant risk.
Click to expand...

In the "believe it or not" category:

Between 1970 and 1988 hundreds of patients were implanted with heart
pacemakers powered by Plutonium "batteries". Some recipients lived with
those for over 20 years.
 
On 11/02/2015 11:44 AM, news13 wrote:
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 07:29:36 +1100, Andy Wood wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:16:10 +1100, Trevor Wilson wrote:

**It's has nothing to do with political correctness and a whole lot to
do with the fact that Plutonium Pu238 has a half life of 87.74 years
and one of the most deadly substances known. Given the fact that any
humans venturing to Mars will be a couple years away from medical
treatment, it makes perfect sense to minimise risks. Pu238 is a
significant risk.

In the "believe it or not" category:

Between 1970 and 1988 hundreds of patients were implanted with heart
pacemakers powered by Plutonium "batteries". Some recipients lived with
those for over 20 years.

Is that like being in a tank with a gold fish Vs being in a tank with a
great white shark?

Face it, if you need a pacemaker, you're pretty fscked anyway and
miniscule radiation exposure isn't going matter any way. They just don't
want the devices to be cremated with the body.
Click to expand...

Some people need pacemakers because of a specific defect in their
hearts, and with a pacemaker can expect to have a normal lifespan.

Sylvia.
 
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 12:53:14 +1100, Sylvia Else wrote:

On 11/02/2015 11:44 AM, news13 wrote:
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 07:29:36 +1100, Andy Wood wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:16:10 +1100, Trevor Wilson wrote:

**It's has nothing to do with political correctness and a whole lot
to do with the fact that Plutonium Pu238 has a half life of 87.74
years and one of the most deadly substances known. Given the fact
that any humans venturing to Mars will be a couple years away from
medical treatment, it makes perfect sense to minimise risks. Pu238 is
a significant risk.

In the "believe it or not" category:

Between 1970 and 1988 hundreds of patients were implanted with heart
pacemakers powered by Plutonium "batteries". Some recipients lived
with those for over 20 years.

Is that like being in a tank with a gold fish Vs being in a tank with a
great white shark?

Face it, if you need a pacemaker, you're pretty fscked anyway and
miniscule radiation exposure isn't going matter any way. They just
don't want the devices to be cremated with the body.


Some people need pacemakers because of a specific defect in their
hearts, and with a pacemaker can expect to have a normal lifespan.
Click to expand...

Yep, and hopefully no one here has that. but I think the numbers are
closer to what I said.(There is always an annoying exception.)
 
On 5/02/2015 10:16 PM, Trevor Wilson wrote:
On 5/02/2015 10:30 PM, Jack Ryan wrote:
I had a fascinating discussion with a NASA engineer.
He said that one problem with a Mars mission is that
dust would make solar panels useless in as little as
3 months!

**It is a huge shame that your alleged 'NASA engineer' doesn't examine
some of NASA's very own projects, before making such nonsensical claims.
The Mars exploration rover, known as Opportunity, touched down on
January 25th, 2004. It had a planned life of 90 Martian days
(approximately 92 Earth days). Opportunity is still operational,
deriving it's power from Solar cells. Dust or not.
Click to expand...
<snip>
NASA overestimated the dust buildup, also they found that sometimes
winds (even in the thin atmosphere) cleaned off the dust.
I remember someone wondering why NASA didn't put a fucking windshield
wiper on the solar panels! Should work with brushed blades.
 
news13 wrote:
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 12:53:14 +1100, Sylvia Else wrote:

On 11/02/2015 11:44 AM, news13 wrote:
On Wed, 11 Feb 2015 07:29:36 +1100, Andy Wood wrote:

On Fri, 06 Feb 2015 08:16:10 +1100, Trevor Wilson wrote:

**It's has nothing to do with political correctness and a whole lot
to do with the fact that Plutonium Pu238 has a half life of 87.74
years and one of the most deadly substances known. Given the fact
that any humans venturing to Mars will be a couple years away from
medical treatment, it makes perfect sense to minimise risks. Pu238 is
a significant risk.

In the "believe it or not" category:

Between 1970 and 1988 hundreds of patients were implanted with heart
pacemakers powered by Plutonium "batteries". Some recipients lived
with those for over 20 years.

Is that like being in a tank with a gold fish Vs being in a tank with a
great white shark?

Face it, if you need a pacemaker, you're pretty fscked anyway and
miniscule radiation exposure isn't going matter any way. They just
don't want the devices to be cremated with the body.


Some people need pacemakers because of a specific defect in their
hearts, and with a pacemaker can expect to have a normal lifespan.

Yep, and hopefully no one here has that. but I think the numbers are
closer to what I said.(There is always an annoying exception.)
Click to expand...
Mum died at 93 and had a pacemaker, was replaced 2 or 3 times as the
batteries go flat eventually.
 
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