1.
Planet Space Sci
; 193: 105075, 2020 Nov 15.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32904654
ABSTRACT
A survey around a recently-fueled MMRTG in the terrestrial atmosphere finds a warm air plume with a characteristic updraft velocity of ~1 m/s and a temperature rise of ~4 âK. Additionally, a roughly hundredfold enhancement in ion density to ~70,000/cm3 in the vicinity (<~1 âm) of the generator was observed: air electrical conductivity was measured to be ~10-13 âS/m. No evidence of ozone production was detected. These observations inform the electrical charging environment and possible local perturbation to meteorological measurements on Mars or Titan on MMRTG-powered landers or rovers. On Mars, the effects of any electrical conductivity enhancement are likely small, but on Titan they may be significant.