Uranium Molybdenum Cast Metal Fuel
Sodium Heat Pipes (First-ever use of a heat pipe to extract thermal power from a fission reactor)
Lithium Hydride/Tungsten Shielding (lightweight space-grade, neutron-shielding material for mobile nuclear reactors)
Stirling Power Conversion System (First-ever use of a Stirling convertor to produce electric power with a fission heat source)
Beryllium Oxide Neutron Reflector
A compact, low cost, fission reactor for exploration and science, scalable from 1 kW to 10 kW electric
Novel integration of available U-235 fuel form, passive sodium heat pipes, and flight-ready Stirling convertors
Would provide about 10x more power than the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator
some perspective :
Power systems used on previous robotic missions (e.g. Spirit/Opportunity, Phoenix, Curiosity) do not provide sufficient power: all less than 200 W
source (with pictures!) : https://www.nasa.gov/sites/def...
"If I do not want others to quote me, I do not speak." -- Phil Wayne