#Curiosity

How do spacecraft generate power? From silicon solar cells degraded by particle radiation to plutonium-fuelled RTGs running for decades — the engineering of spacecraft power systems and the constraints that determine which technology fits which mission.

Mars has just enough atmosphere to create heating but not enough to slow a spacecraft to a safe landing speed. How engineers solved the entry, descent and landing problem for Curiosity and Perseverance — and why the solution fails at human-mission scales.