Howard Winter wrote:

>>>I wonder what sort of electronics they use that can 
>>>operate in those deep cold conditions for so long?
>>
>>from my space experience: no special electronics, just 
> 
> heaters.
> 
> Good grief!  Could they afford the energy on a flight of 
> this length (~7 years)?  
> 
> Even if they used Cassini's RTG for the major part of 
> the flight, Huygens seperated on Christmas day so must 
> have been working on batteries since then - could they 
> keep heaters working for three weeks on 7-year-old 
> batteries?

You are forgetting a key element. INSULATION.
And self heating.

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMTV82VQUD_1.html
"gold-coloured multi-layer insulation blankets will provide
benign thermal conditions inside"

Properly insulated, and thermally managed, it wouldn't
take too much energy to keep the electronics happy.

R


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