JPL Phase 1 report available online for interested readers.
AUTOMATON ROVER FOR EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I Final Report :-
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/f...ree_tagged.pdf
Quote:
Originally Posted by glend
How the heck are they going to lubricate a clockwork rover in those temperatures. The metal expansion factor alone could cause it to sieze up.
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Glen,
Though there are obviously many challenges, mechanical engineers
have had multiple decades of experience in designing moving machinery
that operates at very high temperatures.
Case in point, the jet engine turbine, where the compressor raises the
air temperature to as much as 550C even before it has reached the
turbine blades, then the combustion process raises it again to as much
as 1590C in some engines. Beyond the melting point of many materials
and despite the fact that the turbine blades are subjected to enormous
centrifugal forces.
So one has to draw upon materials such as platinum (melting point 1768C)
with low coefficients of expansion.
But even that is only the start of the many challenges for the prospective
designer.