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RTG -- History, the Curiosity, and New HorizonsCuriosity · New Horizons · Resources with Additional Information DOE's RTG is doing it again. The Department's Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) is providing continuous power to the Mars rover Curiosity. The Multi-Mission RTG was constructed, assembled and tested by the Department and the Idaho, Oak Ridge, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories.1 Los Alamos was also involved in designing and building the ChemCam, which recently set it sights on the first Martian target, and zapped its first Martian rock. - 1Edited excerpt from Nuclear Systems Powering a Mission to Mars
RTG
"RTGs provided by DOE have enabled American scientists to explore the solar system for many years. Prior to New Horizons, the Apollo missions to the Moon, the Viking missions to Mars, and the Pioneer, Voyager, Ulysses, Galileo and Cassini missions to the outer solar system all used this safe, efficient and long-lasting power source."1 CuriosityCuriosity is the rover that "will investigate Mars’ Gale Crater for clues about whether environmental conditions there have favored the development of microbial life, and to preserve any evidence it finds. NASA chose to use a nuclear power source because solar power alternatives did not meet the full range of the mission’s requirements. Only the radioisotope power system [the RTG] allows full-time communication with the rover during its atmospheric entry, descent and landing regardless of the landing site. And the nuclear powered rover can go farther, travel to more places, last longer, and power and heat a larger and more capable scientific payload compared to the solar power alternative NASA studied." Curiosity Edited excerpts from INL's Mars Contributions
NASA Rover Now Exploring Mars Using INL Power System Powering Curiosity: Lab Tech Goes to Mars NASA Lands Car-Size Rover Beside Martian Mountain (Mars Science Laboratory) Mars Science Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Energy Department Nuclear Systems Are Powering Mars Rover Nuclear Systems Powering a Mission to Mars A Mars Rover Named "Curiosity" Department of Energy R&D for the Mars Science Laboratory New HorizonsThe RTG provides power for the New Horizons spacecraft which was launched January 19, 2006, ‘from Florida's Kennedy Space Center on a 9-1/2 year journey to explore Pluto and its moons. The spacecraft will receive heat and electricity from a long-lasting plutonium-238 powered generator developed and assembled by scientists and engineers at the [Department of Energy's] Idaho, Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Laboratories. New Horizons For the mission, the Department of Energy developed and delivered a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, or "RTG." This "space battery" provides an uninterrupted and reliable source of heat and electricity in remote and harsh environments such as deep space. The RTG will provide power and heat for many years to the New Horizons spacecraft and its on-board scientific equipment through the radioactive decay of nuclear material. Heat generated by the radioactive decay of plutonium-238 is converted into electricity by solid-state thermoelectrics.'1 "Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed and fabricated the material used to encapsulate the plutonium; Los Alamos National Laboratory purified, pelletized into a ceramic form and encapsulated the plutonium; and Idaho National Laboratory assembled and tested the RTG and safely delivered the flight-ready RTG to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC)."2 1Edited excerpts from DOE
Technology Helps NASA Seek "New Horizons"
2Edited excerpts from NASA's Nuclear Proving Ground New Horizons - NASA's Pluto-Kuiper Belt Mission NASA's New Horizons Mission Also a New Horizon for INL, Idaho National Laboratory Resources with Additional InformationAdditional information about Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) is available in full-text and on the Web. Documents:RTG Parametric Study. Report for the RTG study, Voyager Task C, DOE Technical Report, September 1966 TAGS-85/2N RTG Power for Viking Lander Capsule, DOE Technical Report, August 1969 SNAP 19 Pioneer F and G. Final Report, DOE Technical Report, June 1973 Power Supplies for Space Systems Quality Assurance by Sandia Laboratories, DOE Technical Report, July 1976 Atomic Power in Space: A History, DOE Technical Report, March 1987 Operational Readiness Review Plan for the Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Materials Production Tasks, DOE Technical Report, April 1990 Cassini RTG Acceptance Test Results and RTG Performance on Galileo and Ulysses, DOE Technical Report, June 1997 GPHS-RTGs in Support of the Cassini RTG Program. Final Technical Report, January 11, 1991--April 30, 1998, DOE Technical Report, August 1998 Calibrating the ChemCam LIBS for Carbonate Minerals on Mars , DOE Technical Report, 2009 Additional Web Pages:Radioisotopes: Energy for Space Exploration Power in Space - Radioisotope Power Systems Radioisotope Power Systems: History Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator Researcher Provides a Historical Perspective for Plutonium Heat Sources, Los Alamos National Laboratory Milliwatt Surveillance Program Ensures RTG Safety and Reliability Space and Defense Infrastructure (Radioisotope power systems enable space exploration and national security missions) Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.
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