RTG on Voyager 1

Nuclear power has provided electricity for many NASA probes. The power source—called "radioisotope thermoelectric generators" or RTGs—use heat from the natural decay of plutonium to create electricity.

RTGs have a long operational lifetime and are usually used on probes bound for the outer planets, where solar energy is too weak to make solar panels a practical energy source. STARDUST won't travel beyond Mars's orbit, so it doesn't need to use nuclear power.

Try again!