slide 1 - Color image of man holding tiny piece of electronics.

Spacecraft 'Nuclear Batteries' Could Get Boost from New Materials

No extension cord is long enough to reach another planet, and there's no spacecraft charging station along the way. That's why researchers are hard at work on ways to make spacecraft power systems more efficient, resilient and long-lasting. More ›

slide 2 - Artist's concept of the Mars 2020 rover

On Deck: Mars 2020

The next Radioisotope Power System-powered mission is the Mars 2020 rover, which is in development now. More ›

Nidia Gallego: Carbon scientist is as versatile as the element she studies

“Carbon is a single element that can be many things,” Gallego said. “It can be hard like diamond, soft like graphite or amorphous like activated carbon." More ›

slide 4 - Cartoon illustration of spacecraft

RPS: Power to Explore

There are no gas stations or power outlets in space. That's why NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars—and some other NASA spacecraft that explore the solar system—use something called "radioisotope power." More ›

slide 5 - Illustration of New Horizons at Pluto

To Pluto (and Beyond) with Plutonium

The Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft enabled the long journey to Pluto—and on to another mysterious world even deeper in the Kuiper Belt. More ›

Spacecraft 'Nuclear Batteries' Could Get Boost from New Materials

On Deck: Mars 2020

Nidia Gallego: Carbon scientist is as versatile as the element she studies

RPS: Power to Explore

To Pluto (and Beyond) with Plutonium

Voyager 1

Voyager 2

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Why RPS?

For more than five decades, radioisotope power systems have played a critical role in the exploration of space, enabling missions of scientific discovery to destinations across the solar system. › More

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