The RTG power supply on Curiosity is rated for _14_ years! (It keeps going... and going... and going...) http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/mission/technology/technologiesofbroadbenefit/p... Now all it's got to do is survive an encounter with a comet. Seth -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Hards Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2013 11:21 AM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] More on Mars / comet Yes, the debris effect on spacecraft got me worried too, as I mentioned in my reply to Rich the other day. How long will the reactor on Curiosity put out enough power to function, if and when it goes into extended-mission-mode? Is ten years a reasonable assumption, or did you just toss-out that figure?