I was referring to the new stirling engine RTG. According to wikipedia, NASA doe... | Hacker News

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		drzaiusapelord on July 13, 2016 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Sends First In-orbit View I was referring to the new stirling engine RTG. According to wikipedia, NASA doesn't see it being used in a mission for another decade or two due to further testing and certification. I wasn't aware solar was so heavy. Thanks for the info.

mikeash on July 13, 2016 [–]

Inverse square is a harsh mistress. With only 4% the insolation at Jupiter as you get at Earth, you need a lot of panels.

Stirling RTGs sound very interesting but I'd be really worried about reliability. Definitely needs lots of work and testing to be confident in it!

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