NASA One Step Closer to Fueling Space Missions with Plutonium-238

The recent shipment of heat source plutonium-238 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory to its Los Alamos National Laboratory is a critical step toward fueling planned NASA missions with radioisotope power systems.

This shipment of 0.5 kilograms (a little over 1 pound) of new heat source plutonium oxide is the largest since the domestic restart of plutonium-238 production over a decade ago. It marks a significant milestone toward achieving the constant rate production average target of 1.5 kilograms per year by 2026.

Radioisotope power systems, or RPS, enable exploration of some of the deepest, darkest, and most distant destinations in the solar system and beyond. RPS use the natural decay of the radioisotope plutonium-238 to provide heat to a spacecraft in the form of a Light Weight Radioisotope Heater Unit (LWRHU), or heat and electricity in the form of a system such as the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG).

The DOE has produced the heat source plutonium oxide required to fuel the RPS for missions such as NASA’s Mars 2020. The first spacecraft to benefit from this restart, the Perseverance rover, carries some of the new plutonium produced by DOE. An MMRTG continuously provides the car-sized rover with heat and about 110 watts of electricity, enabling the exploration of the Martian surface and the gathering of soil samples for possible retrieval.

“NASA’s Radioisotope Power Systems Program works in partnership with the Department of Energy to enable missions to operate in some of the most extreme environments in our solar system and interstellar space,” said Carl Sandifer, RPS program manager at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

For over sixty years, the United States has employed radioisotope-based electrical power systems and heater units in space. Three dozen missions have explored space for decades using the reliable electricity and heat provided by RPS.

NASA and DOE are continuing their long-standing partnership to ensure the nation can enable future missions requiring radioisotopes for decades to come.

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Kelly M. Matter

NASA to Talk Science Highlights of First Artemis Robotic Moon Landing

NASA will host a What’s on Board media teleconference at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Nov. 29, to discuss the science payloads flying aboard the first commercial robotic flight to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative under the Artemis program.

Carrying NASA and commercial payloads to the Moon, Astrobotic Technologies will launch its Peregrine lander on ULA’s (United Launch Alliance) Vulcan rocket. Liftoff of the ULA Vulcan rocket is targeted no earlier than Sunday, Dec. 24, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The Peregrine lunar lander will touch down on the Moon in early 2024.

Audio of the call will stream on the agency’s website at:

https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Briefing participants include:

• Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for Exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Ryan Watkins, program scientist, Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office, NASA Headquarters
• Chris Culbert, program manager, CLPS, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
• John Thornton, CEO, Astrobotic, Pittsburgh

To participate by telephone, media must RSVP no later than two hours before the briefing to: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.

NASA awarded a task order for the delivery of scientific payloads to Astrobotic in May 2019. Among the items on its lander, the Peregrine Mission One will carry NASA payloads investigating the lunar exosphere, thermal properties of the lunar regolith, hydrogen abundances in the soil at the landing site, and magnetic fields, as well as radiation environment monitoring. 

Through Artemis, NASA is working with multiple CLPS vendors to establish a regular cadence of payload deliveries to the Moon to perform experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the lunar surface. This pool of companies may bid on task orders to deliver NASA payloads to the Moon. Task orders include payload integration and operations, launching from Earth, and landing on the surface of the Moon. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity CLPS contracts have a cumulative maximum value of $2.6 billion through 2028.

With CLPS, as well as with human exploration near the lunar South Pole, NASA will establish a long-term cadence of Moon missions in preparation for sending the first astronauts to Mars.

For more Artemis updates, follow along at:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/

-end-

Karen Fox / Alise Fisher
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600 / 202-358-2546
karen.fox@nasa.gov / alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov

Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
nilufar.ramji@nasa.gov

Antonia Jaramillo
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-8425
antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov

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Abbey A. Donaldson

PRIME-1 Simulation

A team of engineers participate in simulation training for the Polar Resources Ice Mining Experiment-1 (PRIME-1) on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The purpose of the training is to get the integrated PRIME-1 team – engineers with PRIME-1’s MSOLO (Mass Spectrometer Observing Lunar Operations) and Honeybee Robotics’ TRIDENT (The Regolith and Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain) drill – prepared to operate the instrument on the lunar surface. The team commanded the PRIME-1 hardware, located at Intuitive Machines in Houston, to operate MSOLO and TRIDENT.

“While the MSOLO and TRIDENT teams have been independently training extensively, it’s exciting to have both teams in the room together operating our hardware concurrently,” said Pri Johnson, one of the MSOLO systems engineers. “There’s a tangible energy in the room this week as we all work together for this mission simulation. It all started to feel very real!”

PRIME-1 is scheduled to launch through NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery Service) initiative and will be the first in-situ resource utilization demonstration on the Moon, with MSOLO and TRIDENT making up its two primary components. Through Artemis missions, CLPS deliveries will be used to perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities to help NASA explore the Moon and prepare for human deep space exploration missions.

Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux

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Jason Costa

Seeing Sagittarius C in a New Light

A star-forming region, named Sagittarius C (Sgr C), is seen in exceptional detail in this image from Nov. 20, 2023, thanks to the Near-Infrared Camera instrument on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. An estimated 500,000 stars shine in this image of the Sgr C region, along with some never-before-seen features astronomers have yet to explain.

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, and S. Crowe (University of Virginia)

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Monika Luabeya

NASA OSBP Celebrates Small Business Saturday 2023

A Journey of Support and Community Impact

Small Business Saturday is an annual holiday that encourages shoppers to support local businesses. Taking place on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, it stands as a dedicated day to celebrate and rally support for the contributions small businesses make to their communities. This year, amid the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the emphasis on supporting small businesses is more crucial than ever as they navigate and adapt to evolving circumstances.

The History and Evolution:

As of 2013, communities actively embraced the holiday, expressing solidarity by pledging support for their local businesses and organizations.

The timeline of Small Business Saturday is marked by the following key milestones:

• 2010: Small Business Saturday was launched
• 2011: The U.S. Senate unanimously passes a resolution endorsing the day
• 2013: Over 1400 individuals become “Neighborhood Champions,” organizing local events
• 2015: The Small Business Administration (SBA) becomes a co-sponsor of Small Business Saturday
• 2020: Americans set a record by spending $19.8 billion on Small Business Saturday
• 2021: Shoppers surpass the previous year’s record, contributing over $20 billion

Today, Small Business Saturday has the unwavering support from private sectors, the SBA, and Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), and NASA.

For small business owners, their enterprises transcend mere commercial endeavors — they are extensions of their identities. Supporting local businesses in your community not only ensures their survival but also fosters thriving communities, establishing a symbiotic relationship between these businesses and the people they serve. This year, Small Business Saturday is on November 25, 2023. 

Historically, the NASA Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP) has celebrated this annual holiday by launching a Small Business Saturday Campaign. Now, in 2023, NASA OSBP developed a comprehensive Small Business Saturday Digital Toolkit. This toolkit comprises of digital posters and a virtual background designed to serve as a call-to-action for small business program specialists to integrate it into meetings for a whole week. Our outreach extended beyond the toolkit, urging followers to embrace the theme of “Shop, Support and Sustain!” We invited everyone to display their support by shopping small and tagging us in their posts on social media.

We continue to invite all individuals to help to make this movement a success! Keep an eye out for our upcoming social media posts, where we will be sharing informative strategy guides and an engaging Small Biz Bingo game. Your participation is key to amplifying the impact of this movement, and we look forward to having you on board for another year of supporting and celebrating local businesses.

NASA OSBP is dedicated to championing and uplifting local businesses making an impact on Small Business Saturday and beyond!

Editor: Maliya Malik, NASA Office of Small Business Programs Intern

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Garrett Shea