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Radioisotope Power Systems
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GPHS Module (Display model)
A display model of the GPHS module.
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NASA/DOE
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This marvelous panoramic view was created by combining a total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera over nearly three hours on Sept. 15, 2006.
In Saturn's Shadow
Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida perform a fit check between the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and its Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator on April 16-17, 2020.
Fitting the Rover's Power System
A lightweight radioisotope heater unit
Lightweight Radioisotope Heater Unit
A Multi-Hundred Watt RTG.
Multi-Hundred Watt RTG
The electricity for NASA's Mars 2020 rover is provided by a power system called a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, or MMRTG. The MMRTG will be inserted into the aft end of the r...
Power for Mars 2020
Astronaut Alan Bean prepares the RTG to be fueled.
Fueling the RTG on the Moon (image 1)
This map of Mars shows the landing sites of all NASA RTG-powered Mars rovers and landers as of 2021.
Mars Landing Sites for Landers and Rovers Powered by Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators
This picture of asteroid Gaspra is a mosaic of two images taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1991, during the first close approach of a spacecraft to an asteroid.
First Close Approach to an Asteroid
Humanity's most sophisticated rover launched at 7:50 a.m. EDT on July 30th on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Mars Perseverance Launches
This image of the parachute that helped deliver NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover to the Martian surface was taken by the rover’s Mastcam-Z instrument on April 6, 2022, the 401st Martian day, or sol, ...
Perseverance Views Its Parachute
Part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, Curiosity launched Nov. 26, 2011 and landed on Mars at 10:32 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5, 2012.
RPS 60th: Mars Curiosity Rover Shareable
The twin Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are exploring where nothing from Earth has flown before.
RPS 60th: Voyager Shareable
At equinox, the shadows of the planet's expansive rings are compressed into a single, narrow band cast onto the planet as seen in this mosaic.
Changing Seasons on Saturn
An enhanced color picture shows asteroid Ida and its moon, Dactyl.
Ida and Dactyl in Enhanced Color
Launched on June 29, 1961, Transit IV-A was the first satellite to carry a radioisotope power system into space.
RPS 60th: Transit IV-A Shareable
A mosaic was created from two high-resolution images that were captured by the narrow-angle camera when NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew past Enceladus
Geysers of Enceladus
Voyager 1 took this photo of Jupiter and two of its satellites (Io at left and Europa at right) as it approached its flyby encounter with the planet in 1979.
Jupiter, Io and Europa
The Cassini Division within Saturn's rings is visible through backyard telescopes on Earth as a dark, seemingly empty region. The division actually contains a great deal of structure.
Graceful Lanes of Ice
-- Updated as of March 2021 Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) have provided the power to explore, discover, and understand our solar system and beyond. This graphic shows the type and destinations ...
Flyby, Orbit, Rove, and Land
This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (...
Curiosity Rover Self-Portrait
This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows Mount Sharp in raw color as recorded by the camera.
Aeolis Mons Panorama
The boulder-strewn field of red rocks reaches to the horizon nearly two miles from Viking 2 on Mars' Utopian Plain.
Viking 2 at Utopia Planitia
Encircled in purple stratospheric haze, Titan appears as a softly glowing sphere in this colorized image taken one day after Cassini's first flyby of the moon on July 2, 2004.
Titan's Haze
The expanse of Jezero Crater’s river delta is shown in this panorama of 64 stitched-together images taken by the Mastcam-Z system on NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover on April 11, 2022.
Jezero Crater's Delta Is Getting Closer
Video taken by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover shows some of the terrain the rover had to negotiate during its drive to the delta at Jezero Crater in April 2022.
AutoNav Drives Perseverance Forward
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NASA’s second Power to Explore Challenge inspires learning about how radioisotope power systems help us explore the extremes of our solar system. Credit: NASA/Gayle Dibiasio (ATS)
NASA Launches Power to Explore Challenge for K-12 Students
Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) have provided the power to explore some of the deepest, darkest, and most distant destinations in the solar system and beyond. Voyager 1 is NASA’s furthest traveled spacecraft, and its science mission has been enabled by RPS for 45 years.
NASA Celebrates 45 Years of Voyager 1, Enabled by Radioisotope Power
Celebrating 45 years of Voyager I and II in space
Voyager, NASA's Longest-Lived Mission, Logs 45 Years in Space
A team of scientists and engineers sponsored by NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program won the American Nuclear Society’s 2022 Best Radioisotope Power Paper award. The society made the announcement following the Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS) conference, held May 8-12 in Cleveland.
Silicon-Germanium Unicouple Paper Wins Best Radioisotope Power Paper Award
NASA used augmented reality to give STEM students a real-world mission planning experience.
NASA Uses Technology to Give Students an Out-of-this-World Experience
10 Years Since Landing, NASA's RPS-Powered Curiosity Mars Rover Still Has Drive
10 Years Since Landing, NASA's RPS-Powered Curiosity Mars Rover Still Has Drive
