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Nuclear power system delivered for Mars rover launch

Nuclear power system delivered for Mars rover launch

The US Department of Energy has delivered the nuclear power system for the Perseverance rover for NASA's Mars 2020 mission which is due to launch next month. The Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator was fuelled, built and tested by DOE's national laboratories.

New Nuclear 12 June 2020

Mars 2020 rover gets radioisotope fuel

Mars 2020 rover gets radioisotope fuel

Fuelling of a radioisotope-based power system for NASA's Mars 2020 rover has begun. The Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator - or MMRTG - uses heat from the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238 to generate electricity as well as maintaining the rover's systems at the proper operating temperatures.

New Nuclear 01 August 2019

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Nuclear power system delivered for Mars rover launch

Mars 2020 rover gets radioisotope fuel

Nuclear 'a stepping stone' to space exploration

Nuclear and Stirling engines spur space exploration

Nuclear rocket puts Mars within reach

Cosmic recycling

Nuclear space hopper an option for Mars

NASA officials updated on nuclear thermal propulsion

One week to go for nuclear rover

NASA officials updated on nuclear thermal propulsion

NASA officials updated on nuclear thermal propulsion

BWX Technologies, Inc yesterday hosted officials from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate for progress updates and technology demonstrations related to BWXT’s nuclear thermal propulsion programme.

New Nuclear 10 October 2018

Cosmic recycling

Cosmic recycling

Man has been sifting through trash for millennia, but the extraction of americium-241 waste from the UK's stockpile of civilian plutonium takes the exercise to a whole new dimension. Am-241 - a decay product of plutonium-241 - is the most prevalent isotope of americium in long-term stored plutonium and is currently considered to be waste.

Perspectives 21 July 2014

Sky is the limit for US-Russia cooperation

Sky is the limit for US-Russia cooperation

Russia and the USA have agreed to cooperate on a range of nuclear-related research areas such as safeguards, security, fast reactors - and "defence from asteroids."

Nuclear Policies 17 September 2013

NASA plans its next Mars rover

NASA plans its next Mars rover

Launch 2020 rover (NASA) 67x48A nuclear power source is likely to sustain NASA's next exploration of Mars - a robot that will take a package of samples for return to Earth and address gaps in the knowledge required for manned exploration.

Other News 12 July 2013

Nuclear rocket puts Mars within reach

Nuclear rocket puts Mars within reach

Man on Mars (NASA) 48Space travel to Mars and beyond may only be possible through the use of nuclear rocket technology, NASA suggests. Such spacecraft would be much faster than conventional craft, cutting the length of the mission and thereby reducing radiation exposure to astronauts.

Other News 31 May 2013

Nuclear and Stirling engines spur space exploration

Nuclear and Stirling engines spur space exploration

Krusty (LANL)_48A team of researchers from NASA and Los Alamos National Laboratory have demonstrated a new reactor concept that combines a Stirling engine with modern heat pipe cooling technology to provide a power source for future space missions.

 

Other News 27 November 2012

Curiosity looks closely at radiation

Curiosity looks closely at radiation

Martian radiation (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI)_48Nasa's Curiosity Mars rover has carried out the first ever measurements of radiation on another planet. Its findings suggest that astronauts would be able to live on the surface of Mars for long enough to carry out extended missions.

Regulation & Safety 23 November 2012

Nuclear 'a stepping stone' to space exploration

Nuclear 'a stepping stone' to space exploration

A new era of space exploration is dawning through the application of nuclear energy for rovers on Mars and the Moon, power generation at future bases on the surfaces of both and soon for rockets that enable interplanetary travel.

New Nuclear 27 July 2012