Jed wrote:
>
> The RTG remained intact and ended up in the
> Tonga trench in the >Pacific Ocean.
>
Yes. The design work on re-entry impact integrity of the capsules
was a Sandia project.
They were designed to withstand impact on granite at 300 feet per
second. We used the rocket-propelled sled track with a granite block (tombstone) to impact the red-hot capsules..
An early RTG-equipped Pioneer launch-aborted from Vandenberg
landed in the Pacific off Point Loma. The capsules were recovered intact.
The RTGs on Pioneer-10 and Voyagers 1 and 2 even after
30 plus years of operation are still producing power within 15%
of launch rating.
Fred
