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Voyager’s Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator

1 min read

Each of NASA's Voyager probes are equipped with three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), including the one shown here.

A woman, hands wide apart, is espressively speaking to the camera.

2025 Power to Explore Challenge Explainer Video

1 min read

Welcome to this informational session all about the NASA Power to Explore student writing competition. It's all about the competition…

A brightly lit, grayscale panorama of the Martian surface shows very uneven rocky terrain, with bright-toned, flat, lined and multi-angled rocks covering the surface, with darker soil in between, looking like the entire foreground stretching off into the distance had shattered. On the horizon, four hills rise from the ground — a small one at the center of the image, two larger ones on either side of it, and a fourth on the right side of the image that angles upward off the frame. Portions of the rover are visible at the bottom of the frame, from one corner of the other, including one wheel at bottom center, and two others in the lower right corner, along with visible wheel tracks on the ground there.

Sol 4414: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection

1 min read

Curiosity took the images on January 05, 2025, Sol 4414 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 798, site…

A brightly lit, grayscale panorama of the Martian surface shows very uneven rocky terrain, with bright-toned, flat, lined and multi-angled rocks covering the surface, with darker soil in between, looking like the entire foreground stretching off into the distance had shattered. On the horizon, four hills rise from the ground — a small one at the center of the image, two larger ones on either side of it, and a fourth on the right side of the image that angles upward off the frame. Portions of the rover are visible at the bottom of the frame, from one corner of the other, including one wheel at bottom center, and two others in the lower right corner, along with visible wheel tracks on the ground there.

Sol 4398: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection

1 min read

Curiosity took the images on December 20, 2024, Sol 4398 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 534, site…

A grayscale photograph of the Martian surface shows very uneven rocky terrain, with bright-toned, flat, lined and multi-angled rocks covering the surface, with darker soil in between, looking like the entire foreground stretching off into the distance had shattered. On the horizon, a pair of rocky hills rise at the center of the frame. Portions of the rover are visible at the bottom and left side of the frame.

Sol 4398: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection

1 min read

Curiosity took the images on December 20, 2024, Sol 4398 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 534, site…

Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover’s Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG)

1 min read

The electricity for NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover is provided by a power system called a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator,…

A Voyager Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)

1 min read

Each of NASA's Voyager probes are equipped with three radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), including the one shown here.

New Horizons carries seven scientific instruments and weighs 1,060 pounds.

New Horizon’s Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)

1 min read

The radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) has been installed onto the New Horizons spacecraft for a fit check.

A grayscale panorama of the Martian surface shows a wide field of flat, dark gray terrain dotted with flat, angular, medium-sized rocks, all in lighter gray, stretching into the distance where a series of four hills rise from the ground, left to right on the horizon. Portions of the Curiosity rover are visible at the bottom of the image, including two wheels visible in the lower right corner and the top deck of the rover on the left side of the image, including a NASA logo. The terrain at image left slopes downward off the frame, and more distant areas are visible beyond.

Sol 4396: Right Navigation Camera, Cylindrical Projection

1 min read

Curiosity took the images on December 18, 2024, Sol 4396 of the Mars Science Laboratory mission at drive 330, site…

A color image of the Martian surface from above looks like the bumpy, scaly skin of a reptile, with the high spots in shades of light turquoise and tan, and the crevices appearing a dark copper color. Among all this are a dozen oblong bumps, angled from the upper left toward lower right, also mainly copper-colored; some of them look like coffee beans, others resemble partially deflated, wrinkled balloons. They’re lighted from a source beyond the lower-left edge of the frame; on their shadowed sides, some have patches of white or light turquoise.

MRO’s HiRISE Views Frosty Martian Dunes

1 min read

Martian dunes in Mars' northern hemisphere, captured from above by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its HiRISE camera on Sept.…

A video features a scientist talking about Mars' intense spring.

New Year, New Mars: Red Planet Gets Active as Spring Begins (Mars Report)

1 min read

Mars scientists have recently marked a new year on the Red Planet, a milestone that occurs every 687 days. Because…

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Sun

Tendrils of hot plasma stream from the Sun.

Planets

A montage shows the planets to scale from Mercury on the left to Neptune on the right.

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors

Closeup view of a rocky, diamond-shaped asteroid in space

Kuiper Belt

Illustration of spacecraft near a giant space rock far from the Sun.