Europe's Mars Rover Will Use New Nuclear Power Source

image via New Scientist

May 23, 2024, 3:00 PM

• •Europe's upcoming Mars mission will use a pioneering nuclear-powered device that harnesses the radioactive decay of americium to keep its components warm
• •The European Space Agency (ESA) announced the plans on 16 May, alongside details of an agreement with NASA that crystallized the US agency's contribution to the long-delayed mission
• •The Rosalind Franklin rover is uniquely equipped to search for traces of ancient life on Mars, with a 2-metre drill that allows it to burrow deep beneath the Martian surface

Europe's upcoming Mars mission will use a pioneering nuclear-powered device that harnesses the radioactive decay of americium to keep its components warm — a first for spacecraft.

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