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Scientists have devised a bouncing radioactive rover. / November 19, 2010 /

Scientists have proposed the concept of the new rovers operating on the radioactive fuel, which can make jumps of up to one kilometer. Article describing the structure of the aircraft appeared in the Journal of Royal Society A, but briefly the idea of specialists are on the portal BBC News.

To break away from the surface, the unit will emit a jet of carbon dioxide collected from the Martian atmosphere. Inside, liquefied gas will be stored — the energy to gather and compress natural gas rover would receive by converting the heat that is released during the decay of radioactive isotopes.

Some of the heat scientists are planning to put on a special heating unit — where the rover will need to make a jump, liquid CO2 will be fed to this block and jump in gaseous state and warm. The passage of hot gas through the nozzle will provide the necessary thrust to lift the apparatus. In addition, the exhaust will help to gently put the rover in a new place.

In total, the Mars rovers were sent to five, but at present there is only one — «Opportunity». This unit receives power for operation from the sun and moves around the planet on wheels. For seven years, the rover drove a little over 25 kilometers. Now NASA is working on a new Mars rover MSL (Mars Science Laboratory), which will be installed radioisotope thermoelectric generator.

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