• @[email protected]
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    321 days ago

    They should send a powerbank up to the Voyager.

    Yeah, that is a joke but made me wonder two things:

    1. Say you have the abillity to connect a powerbank to the Voyager, how long would a typical powerbank with 3x 16850 cells be able to power the probe?
    2. Would it be possible to build a proble like Voyager 2, which has a docking port and could accept a space craft that could transfer power to the Voyager 2?
    • @[email protected]
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      521 days ago

      Too cold for batteries but just for kicks; 2Ah(3x3.7V)=22.2watts. Voyagers RTG’s left earth producing about 470watts so that powerbank with 3 x 18650’s would equal about 3 minutes. Not sure what the usage is though so maybe longer, plus the RTG’s power output fades over time so probably longer again.

    • Possibly linux
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      221 days ago

      Why wouldn’t you just send a new device at that point? Also Voyager is actively moving so it would be very hard to catch up to

      • @[email protected]
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        121 days ago

        All good points, and I fully agree with you, I just though it was funny to immagine a space probe charging from a powerbank.

        Then I started wondering how a modern powerbank with modern lithium ion cells would compare to the needs of the Voyager 2 probe, and started thinking of how it could be done.

    • @shalafi
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      221 days ago

      Too cold for batteries. That, and longevity, is why they used an RTG.

      • @[email protected]
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        121 days ago

        Yeah, I realize that, but I just thought it would be interesting to put the energy use in perspective…