Cosmos remains endless, but the resources for its development are limited. The fuel required for missiles is quickly exhausted, and NASA is looking for alternative solutions for long-term missions. One of them was radioisotopic energy systems (RPS)-nuclear batteries that the agency has been using since the 1960s.
With the help of such systems, the largest projects were implemented – from Voyajegers and New Horizons to the Curiosity and Persevrance, as well as the future Dragonfly drone for the study of the titanium satellite, as emphasized by NASA.
The energy of the batteries is produced due to the collapse of unstable isotopes. For many years, Plutonium-238 was used as fuel with a half-spacing period of about 88 years. Now NASA is considering America-241 with a half-life of almost 433 years, which can provide for the nutrition of missions over the centuries and open up opportunities for the research of distant areas of the solar system.
Cosmic fuel should comply with strict requirements: it should be minimal toxic, insoluble in the body, resistant to high temperatures, and capable of giving a powerful heat stream with small volumes. Therefore, isotopes are used in a ceramic form, which in the event of an accident breaks up into large fragments and cannot be easily inhaled by the body.
In January, NASA Glenn Research Center began testing America-241. In parallel, a new energy generation scheme is being investigated – the use of free-piston convertor of Eyerning, which allows working pistons in microgravity conditions. One of these converters at the Glenn Center worked for 14 years without service.
“This achievement is especially important,” said Wayne Wong, head of the NASA Glenn thermal energy unit, in a