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Radioisotope Power Systems
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Multi-Hundred Watt RTG
A Multi-Hundred Watt RTG.
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NASA/DOE
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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
The first photograph ever taken on the surface of the planet Mars. It was obtained by Viking 1 just minutes after the spacecraft landed successfully landing on Mars in July 1976.
First Picture From the Surface of Mars
A color view is a Viking 2 Lander close-up of the surface of Mars. The metal cylinder at right is the shroud (or cover) for the surface
Viking Lander Trenches
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
The fuel insertion on F2, the MMRTG that would power NASA's Curiosity Rover.
Fuel Insertion on F2 (Curiosity Rover's MMRTG)
The spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm resembles a deep red rose of giant proportions surrounded by green foliage in this false-color image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Saturn: The Rose
Asteroid Ida and its moon Dactyl. Scientists found the moon - the first discovered orbiting and asteroid - when the Galileo spacecraft flew past Ida in 1993.
Ida and Dactyl
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
New Horizons launched on Jan. 19, 2006, and it conducted a six-month-long reconnaissance flyby study of Pluto and its moons in 2015, culminating with Pluto closest approach on July 14, 2015.
RPS 60th: New Horizons Shareable
Astronaut Alan Bean prepares the RTG to be fueled.
Fueling the RTG on the Moon (image 1)
Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) deployed on the lunar surface
ALSEP Deployed on the Lunar Surface
Next Gen RTG Next Gen RTG - illustration
Next Gen RTG
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
This image shows the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator for NASA'S Mars 2020 Perseverance rover during a fit check at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 16-17, 2020.
Testing Rover Power System
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
This series of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows the development of the largest storm seen on the planet since 1990.
Chronicling Saturn's Northern Storm
Dragonfly is a NASA rotorcraft lander mission that will explore the chemistry and habitability of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
RPS 60th: Dragonfly Mission to Titan Shareable
The Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package, ALSEP, was a collection of geophysical instruments designed to continue to monitor the environment of each Apollo landing site.
RPS 60th: ALSEP Shareable
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie over a rock nicknamed "Rochette," on September 10, 2021, the 198th Martian day, or sol of the mission.
Perseverance's Selfie at Rochette
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
DRPS illustration of Sunpower Robust Stirling Convertor system from Sunpower, Inc.
Sunpower Robust Stirling Convertor (illustration)
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
Huygens probe following its successful descent to Saturn's smog-enshrouded moon, Titan.
First Color View of Titan's Surface
This image shows the closest face-on view of Neptune's Great Dark Spot captured by the Voyager 2 spacecraft during the only visit to the most distant of the eight major planets in our solar system.
Neptune's Great Dark Spot
An enhanced color picture shows asteroid Ida and its moon, Dactyl.
Ida and Dactyl in Enhanced Color
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This shipment of 0.5 kilograms (a little over 1 pound) of new heat source plutonium oxide is the largest since the domestic restart of plutonium-238 production over a decade ago.
NASA One Step Closer to Fueling Space Missions with Plutonium-238
NASA has officially launched its third Power to Explore Student Challenge.
NASA Seeks Students to Imagine Nuclear Powered Space Missions
Three student winners of NASA’s Power to Explore Challenge journeyed behind the scenes at NASA's Glenn Research Center after drafting the top papers in the national STEM essay contest.
STEM Essay Contest Winners Earn Close-Encounter Visit to NASA
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft plans to observe Uranus and Neptune from its location far out in the outer solar system this fall.
All Eyes on the Ice Giants
The question of how Saturn developed its brilliant rings is still very much an engaging and open question.
All That Glitters: Saturn's Rings Estimated to Be "Young"
NASA selected three winners out of nine finalists in the second annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for elementary through high school students featuring the power of radioisotopes for space exploration.
NASA Announces Student Winners of Power to Explore Challenge
