Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Resources

ARCHIVAL CONTENT: Enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (eMMRTG) Concept

Enhanced Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (eMMRTG) Concept
Archival Content

The conceptual eMMRTG would preserve all MMRTG envelope, volume, interfaces and mounting points while offering significant increases in power.

Credit

NASA

ENLARGE

Related

In late 2011, NASA plans to launch the largest, most capable rover ever sent to another planet. 
More
In late 2011, NASA plans to launch the largest, most capable rover ever sent to another planet.
Mars Science Laboratory Launch Nuclear Safety
For archival use: An ASRG produced electricity by a triple energy transformation. Development of ASRG flight units was cancelled in late 2013.
More
For archival use: Development of ASRG flight units was cancelled in late 2013.
ARCHIVAL CONTENT: Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG)
 Dynamic Radioisotope Power Systems (DRPS) NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) are working together to enable more capable space missions through the development of Dynamic Radioisotope Powe...
More
Dynamic Radioisotope Power Systems Fact Sheet
Dynamic Radioisotope Power Systems (DRPS)
Electrical power is critical for exploring Mars—it keeps radios, computers, and scientific instruments working on Mars lander and rover missions.
More
Electrical power is critical for exploring Mars
Radioisotope Power and Heating for Mars Surface Exploration
Like a steady campfire that warms intrepid hikers in a remote forest, radioisotope heater units (RHUs) help bring dependable heat to wherever it’s needed for missions bound for the coldest corners ...
More
Fact Sheet About RHUs
Radioisotope Heater Units
Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) are long-lived sources of spacecraft electrical power and heating that are rugged, compact, highly reliable, and relatively insensitive to radiation and other effec...
More
Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) are long-lived sources of spacecraft electrical power and heating that are rugged, compact, highly reliable, and relatively insensitive to radiation and other effects of the space environment.
Radioisotope Power Systems: Mission Need
Plutonium-238 is a special material that emits steady heat due to its natural radioactive decay. 
More
Plutonium-238 is a special material that emits steady heat due to its natural radioactive decay.
What is Plutonium-238?
Space exploration missions require safe, reliable, long-lived power systems to provide electricity and heat to spacecraft and their science instruments.
More
MMRTG Fact Sheet: Space exploration missions require safe, reliable, long-lived power systems to provide electricity and heat to spacecraft and their science instruments.
Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG)
One chart showing all of the RPS powered and RHU-heated spacecraft and the planets they have explored
More
Power to Explore. Ulysses studied the Sun. Galileo and Cassini studied Venus. Nimbus 3, Voyager 1, Galileo, and Cassini studied Earth from space. Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 had surface experiments on the Moon, powered by radioisotope power. Viking 1, Viking 2, Curiosity, and Perseverance are on the surface of Mars. Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Ulysses, Galileo, Cassini, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons studied Jupiter. Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Cassini studied Saturn. Voyager 1 and Cassini studied Saturn's moon Titan, and Dragonfly is planned to study Titan in the future. Voyager 2 studied Uranus and Neptune. New Horizons studied Pluto.
NASA RPS Missions: RHU-Heated and RTG-Powered Spacecraft Lithograph
NASA’s Mars 2020 mission is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in July 2020.
More
NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover Artist's Concept #1 (Updated)
Mars 2020 Launch Nuclear Safety
The General Purpose Heat Source-RTG (GPHS-RTG) is being revitalized for use on future missions, providing more than twice the power of an MMRTG (an estimated 245 watts electric per unit), with much...
More
Next Generation Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
Next Generation Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators
Ensuring the safety of launch-site workers and the general public in the communities surrounding the launch area is the primary consideration in this planning. 
More
Ensuring the safety of launch-site workers and the general public in the communities surrounding the launch area is the primary consideration in this planning.
Mars Science Laboratory Launch Contingency Planning
Algunas de las misiones más atrevidas y emocionantes de la NASA de exploración de nuestro sistema solar se han hecho realidad gracias a un descubrimiento de hace 200 años.
More
Ahora llamamos a este proceso de producción de electricidad el “efecto Seebeck”.
¿Cómo funciona un generador termoeléctrico de radioisótopos? El efecto Seebeck (Video)
A single RHU passively radiates about one watt of heat. When placed carefully aboard a spacecraft or inside a rover, the heat compensates for cold temperatures in beyond Earth.
More
This explanatory video uses mostly artist's concepts of spacecraft at work in deep space thanks to radioisotope heating units.
What are Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs)?
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2022. Origins, Worlds, and Life: A Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032
More
Decadal Survey cover: Origins, Worlds and Life: A Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032
Origins, Worlds, and Life: A Decadal Strategy for Planetary Science and Astrobiology 2023-2032
Six decades after the launch of the first nuclear-powered space mission, Transit IV-A, NASA is embarking on a bold future of human exploration and scientific discovery. 
More
video with images and animations covering major NASA missions in the last 60 years
After 60 Years, Nuclear Power for Spaceflight is Still Tried and True
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...
More
360-degree panorama of Jazero Crater on Mars
Mastcam-Z's First 360-Degree Panorama
The objective of this study1 is to discuss a sustainable strategy and present findings for the provisioning of safe, reliable, and affordable nuclear power systems that enable NASA missions.
More
Assessment Study - Final Report Final report on a sustainable strategy for safe, reliable and affordable nuclear power systems for space exploration.
Nuclear Power Assessment Study - Final Report

You Might Also Like