Idaho National Laboratory Is Playing A Critical Role In NASA Mars Mission

By Samantha Wright

Published March 5, 2020 at 1:38 PM MST

In July, NASA plans to launch the next Mars rover into space.

There are four goals for the Mars 2020 mission: find out if there was ever life on Mars, look at the climate and geology of the red planet and prepare the way for humans to go there.

The Idaho National Laboratory is providing the power supply, known as an RTG for the mission. INL provided RTGs for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto and the Mars Curiosity Rover. Their latest RTG will power the rover and keep it warm on Mars.

Harmon Veselka is a mechanical design engineer at the INL and joins Idaho Matters to talk more about the mission. Check out this video to learn more about powering rovers in space.

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Samantha Wright

As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life!). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio.

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