Date Time
PNNL Pitches in for Perseverance Launch
People around the world have marveled at the exploits of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, from launch to landing to supporting helicopter test flights above the Red Planet.
That’s because Engel, a computational mathematician, and Sullivan, a risk and environmental engineer, helped provide crucial data that allowed Perseverance to launch on July 30, 2020, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
Their work focused on the risk of launching a Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, the plutonium-fueled power system that supplies electricity to the Perseverance rover. Designed and built for NASA by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), this space nuclear power system produces about 110 watts of electricity to run the rover’s systems and extra heat to keep them warm during the frigid Martian nights and winter seasons.