XPost: sci.astro.amateur   
   From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article ,   
   Tim Killian   wrote:   
   >Was the lack of an RTG on Huygens a political decision, or a true   
   >engineering limitation?   
      
   Yes. :-)  Within the priorities, mass limits, and cost constraints of the   
   project, there was definitely no engineering possibility of an RTG.  (The   
   "priorities" part is that Huygens was mainly an atmosphere mission with   
   only a secondary role as a lander, as witness its primary mission being   
   153 minutes -- 150 minutes of descent, 3 minutes on the surface.)   
      
   The priorities, mass limits, and cost constraints were ultimately mostly   
   political decisions at one level or another.  I don't believe there was an   
   explicit political "no RTG" decision -- Huygens did have a whole bunch of   
   RHUs (plutonium heater capsules) -- but the mission as defined couldn't   
   really afford one (in dollars, mass, or engineering complications) and   
   didn't really need one.   
   --   
   "Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer   
                                   -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net   
      
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