INL powering NASA’s nuclear space program

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – Idaho National Laboratory's collaboration with NASA is propelling spacecraft to the depths of the universe with its nuclear propulsion generators.

NASA’s top official Jared Isaacman will touch down in Idaho Falls Friday to tour the laboratory's facilities and visit the heart of America’s nuclear space program.

Projects and research at the area empowering space missions past, present and future.

"We have made radioisotope thermoelectric generators that have powered the Curiosity and the Perseverance rover that are on Mars," said INL Tour Ambassador Liza Raley. "A New Horizons mission went all the way past Pluto. When the rocket took off, Pluto was a planet. It took nine and a half years for it to get to the Kuiper Belt, passing Pluto. By the time it arrived, Pluto was no longer a planet. It had been downgraded."

INL scientists are laser-focused on powering the future of space exploration.

"We're currently working on four missions – all launching within a 12-month time span," said Space Nuclear Power & Isotope Technologies Director Stephen Johnson. The first of those is a July 2028 mission that we're supplying radioisotope heater units for an multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) that is Dragonfly, which is going to Saturn's moon Titan."

INL is also assisting the Rosalind Franklin Mission in placing a lander and rover on Mars in October 2028.

"Then in November of 2028, they are targeting launching a small fission reactor Space Reactor-1," Johnson said. "That will power a craft using nuclear electric propulsion that will go to Mars and launch into Mars some small helicopters."

Finally, the next year, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) will power the Promise rover on the lunar surface.

With major ambition, NASA is also preparing to bring a nuclear fission reactor to the moon by 2030.

"NASA has a whole moon base plan, right? They're going to need a lot of power for that plan," said Nuclear Reactor Technology Division Director Justin Coleman. "They have the power right now for the initial steps. They don't need a reactor today. But again, that's the reason NASA's looking at a reactor that'll be launch-ready by 2030. It will completely change the paradigm in the type of power generation you have on the moon."

To accomplish that, INL and its partners are focused on making nuclear reactors and batteries that are lighter and more compact. 

"When we think about reactors for defense and even space or mobile applications, you think of things that are constrained by weight and size," Coleman said. "So they have to be able to fit into a small package, and they have to be light enough to be able to fly around in a C-17 to transport by truck or to transport by rocket."

In this revolutionary era merging space exploration and advanced reactor technology, for NASA and INL, the sky is not the limit.