Through a strong partnership between the Energy Department's
office of Nuclear Energy and NASA, Radioisotope Power Systems
have been providing the energy for deep space exploration. The
Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors have provided
radioisotope power systems that have safely enabled deep space
exploration and national security missions for five decades.
Radioisotope power systems (RPSs) convert the heat from the
decay of the radioactive isotope plutonium-238 (Pu-238) into
electricity. RPSs are capable of producing heat and electricity
under the harsh conditions encountered in deep space for
decades. They have proven safe, reliable, and maintenance-free
in missions to study the moon and all of the planets in the
solar system except Mercury. The RPS-powered New Horizons
spacecraft is three quarters of the way to a planned Pluto
encounter in 2015. DOE maintains the infrastructure to develop,
manufacture, test, analyze, and deliver RPSs for space
exploration and national security missions. DOE pro