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Please:) 5. The unmanned space probe Voyager 2, launched on 20 August 1977, explored the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The instruments aboard Voyager
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5. The unmanned space probe Voyager 2, launched on 20 August 1977, explored the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The instruments aboard Voyager 2 were powered by radioisotope thermal generators (RTGs). The RTGs were fueled by 238Pu(1/2=87.7yr), which decays to 234U(1/2=0.35Myr), with the release of 5.49MeV. (a) If the RTGs were 5\% efficient, compute the initial quantity of plutonium required to provide 400W of electric power four years after launch, when the probe reached Saturn. (b) How much power would have been available 12 years after launch, when the probe reached Neptune? (c) Other spacecraft have used solar panels to produce electrical power. For instance, Space Lab used 730-m solar panels to generate 10.5kW of power in earth orbit (1 AU from the sun). What area of solar panels would have been required to provide 400W at the orbital distance of Saturn (9.5 AU from the sun)? Note that the intensity of solar radiation drops off as the square of the distance from the sunStep by Step Solution
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