Clads of plutonium-238 placed into graphite components to form general purpose heat source modules.
Completed modules placed inside the RTG.
The RTG undergoes a series of acceptance tests to ensure it will perform as designed. Vibration Testing Simulates launch conditions by mounting the RTG on a vibration table that creates proto-flight test environments in the X, Y & Z axis orientations. Mass Properties Testing the RTG’s center of gravity, mass and moments of inertia will affect how the rover moves. A mass properties rotation fixture measures the weight within +0.5% and the center of gravity within 1 cm. Thermal Vacuum Testing to simulate the vacuum of space, the RTG is placed in a chamber with a robust pumping system that can create a near-absolute vacuum to test the power performance.
Vibration Testing Simulates launch conditions by mounting the RTG on a vibration table that creates proto-flight test environments in the X, Y & Z axis orientations.
Mass Properties Testing the RTG’s center of gravity, mass and moments of inertia will affect how the rover moves. A mass properties rotation fixture measures the weight within +0.5% and the center of gravity within 1 cm.
Thermal Vacuum Testing to simulate the vacuum of space, the RTG is placed in a chamber with a robust pumping system that can create a near-absolute vacuum to test the power performance.
Spring 2020 A specially designed truck transports the RTG from Idaho to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. A crew from INL’s Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies Division monitors the RTG around the clock until launch.
A crew from INL’s Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies Division heads to Kennedy Space Center to install the MMRTG on the Mars 2020 rover and provide ground operations support leading up to and following launch.
The INL crew heads to Kennedy Space Center to install the RTG on the rover and provide ground operations support leading up to and following launch.
The 20-day launch window opens for the Mars 2020 mission.
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