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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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This montage shows a series of views from the European Space Agency's Huygens probe at four different altitudes as it descended to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan in 2005.
Huygens's Descent to Titan
DRPS illustration of Sunpower Robust Stirling Convertor system from Sunpower, Inc.
Sunpower Robust Stirling Convertor (illustration)
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
Non-NASA RPS Missions Fleet Chart
Non-NASA RPS Missions Fleet Chart
Huygens probe following its successful descent to Saturn's smog-enshrouded moon, Titan.
First Color View of Titan's Surface
-- 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
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
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
There are no gas stations or mechanics in deep space. So, if you want the power to perform science in the deep, dark frontiers of our solar system, you must have an engine that is reliable for the...
Testing Maintenance-Free Engines That Power Science in Deep Space
An enhanced color picture shows asteroid Ida and its moon, Dactyl.
Ida and Dactyl in Enhanced Color
A montage of New Horizons images of Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io, taken during the spacecraft's Jupiter flyby in early 2007.
Jupiter-Io Montage
This panorama, taken on Feb. 20, 2021, by the Navigation Cameras, or Navcams, aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover, was stitched together from six individual images after they were sent back to Ea...
Perseverance Navcams 360-Degree Panorama
Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP) deployed on the lunar surface
ALSEP Deployed on the Lunar Surface
This iconic image was taken by NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft from a distance of almost 4 billion miles from Earth. From Voyager's great distance, Earth is a mere point of light, less than the size of...
Earth as a 'Pale Blue Dot'
A lightweight radioisotope heater unit
Lightweight Radioisotope Heater Unit
NASA's Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft looked back to see Jupiter as a thinning crescent 17 days after its closest approach to the giant planet.
A Farewell to Jupiter
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
Neptune's largest moon Triton, is seen in this mosaic of images captured by Voyager 2 during the only visit thus far to the Neptune system.
Voyager's view of Triton
This is the first 360-degree panorama taken by Mastcam-Z, a zoomable pair of cameras aboard NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. The panorama was stitched together on Earth from 142 individual images ta...
Mastcam-Z's First 360-Degree Panorama
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
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
The fuel insertion on F2, the MMRTG that would power NASA's Curiosity Rover.
Fuel Insertion on F2 (Curiosity Rover's MMRTG)
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
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
DRPS illustration of the Flexure Isotope Stirling Convertor system from American Superconductor.
Flexure Isotope Stirling Convertor System (illustration)
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NASA announced the winners on Wednesday of the third annual Power to Explore Challenge, a national writing competition designed to teach K-12 students about the power of radioisotopes for space exploration.
NASA Announces Winners of Power to Explore Challenge
Discovery also suggests more possible targets for a distant future spacecraft flyby.
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NASA has selected the nine finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes.
NASA Names Finalists of the Power to Explore Challenge
NASA selected 45 student essays as semifinalists of its 2024 Power to Explore Challenge, a national competition for K-12 students featuring the enabling power of radioisotopes.
NASA Announces Semifinalists of Power to Explore Challenge
NASA has officially launched its third Power to Explore Student Challenge.
NASA Seeks Students to Imagine Nuclear Powered Space Missions
A Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) has powered the rover 24-7 for 1,000 days of science and exploration.
Perseverance Rover Deciphers Ancient History of Martian Lake
