UK Beagle space probe ruined because it used unwiedly solar panels

wrote:
On Thursday, January 22, 2015 at 10:46:34 AM UTC-5, Mike Collins wrote:
wsnell01 wrote:
On Wednesday, January 21, 2015 at 5:57:04 PM UTC-5, Mike Collins wrote:
RichA wrote:
Sigh. A problem easily avoided by using a small, portable nuclear power supply.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/16/world/...und/index.html

The lander mass was 33.1 Kg.The mass has already been reduced by 40Kg. How
much would your nuclear option mass. Most satellite radioisotope generators
seem to be 12 to 40 Kg.

Small RTGs are not impossible, just not available for this mission. Solar
panels have mass too, and they involve moving parts that can fail, as we saw.

Beagle 2 solar panels were 3.2 Kg. The lowest mass RTG in space (as far as
I can find) weighs 2.7Kg but only provides 2,7 kW of power.
The next lowest mass RTG is over 12 Kg

The Beagle's panels did not deploy; this sort of thing is not uncommon. RTGs tend to work.

Here's a closer look at the dreaded solar panels.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qYOWDjQyml4

On Friday, January 23, 2015 at 2:01:54 PM UTC-5, Mike Collins wrote:

Here's a closer look at the dreaded solar panels.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qYOWDjQyml4

Hey, what's your point? The system didn't work...the mission was lost.