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Media Contacts
![A selfie from the Curiosity rover as it explores the surface of Mars. Like many spacecraft, Curiosity uses a radioisotope power system to help fuel its mission. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-09/Curiousity_1.jpg?h=86a9dded&itok=Jo0vD321)
Radioactive isotopes power some of NASA’s best-known spacecraft. But predicting how radiation emitted from these isotopes might affect nearby materials is tricky
![3D-printed 316L steel has been irradiated along with traditionally wrought steel samples. Researchers are comparing how they perform at various temperatures and varying doses of radiation. Credit: Jaimee Janiga/ORNL](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-08/X2001337_TCR_IrradiatedMaterials_Bumpus_jnj-04.jpg?h=e3a8e2b5&itok=pXslTCBN)
It’s a new type of nuclear reactor core. And the materials that will make it up are novel — products of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s advanced materials and manufacturing technologies.
![Pu-238 pellet drawing](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-07/Plutonium_Illustration_Blur.png?h=b6236d98&itok=wvSAbP64)
After its long journey to Mars beginning this summer, NASA’s Perseverance rover will be powered across the planet’s surface in part by plutonium produced at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
![At the U.S. Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL, this part for a scaled-down prototype of a reactor was produced for industry partner Kairos Power.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-05/Kairos%20PI%201_0.jpg?h=71976bb4&itok=EYVPB9H3)
Scientists at the Department of Energy Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL have their eyes on the prize: the Transformational Challenge Reactor, or TCR, a microreactor built using 3D printing and other new approaches that will be up and running by 2023.
![Transformational Challenge Reactor Demonstration items](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2020-03/Press_release_image.jpg?h=b707efd5&itok=-Sxbmt8D)
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are refining their design of a 3D-printed nuclear reactor core, scaling up the additive manufacturing process necessary to build it, and developing methods
![Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have developed an experiment for testing potential materials for use in interplanetary travel. The experiment exposes prototype materials to temperatures over 2,400 degrees Celsius with only 300 watts of input electrical power. Credit: Carlos Jones, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/2019-11/2019-P14907%5B2%5D_0.jpg?h=036a71b7&itok=qX3QY9Pm)
If humankind reaches Mars this century, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory-developed experiment testing advanced materials for spacecraft may play a key role.
![Nuclear—Deep space travel Nuclear—Deep space travel](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/Screen%20Shot%202018-12-19%20at%2010.29.32%20AM.png?itok=hq0dlVIf)
By automating the production of neptunium oxide-aluminum pellets, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have eliminated a key bottleneck when producing plutonium-238 used by NASA to fuel deep space exploration.
![By producing 50 grams of plutonium-238, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have demonstrated the nation’s ability to provide a valuable energy source for deep space missions. By producing 50 grams of plutonium-238, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have demonstrated the nation’s ability to provide a valuable energy source for deep space missions.](/sites/default/files/styles/list_page_thumbnail/public/front_page_slide_assets/2015-P07524.jpg?itok=MEy22Na3)
With the production of 50 grams of plutonium-238, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have restored a U.S. capability dormant for nearly 30 years and set the course to provide power for NASA and other missions.