Flybys are used to get a quick glimpse of what planetary object is like. A flyby spacecraft will travel close to the object it is observing and collect data from it, like when Voyager 1 flew by Jupiter and discovered its rings. Voyager 2 found ten new moons and two new rings, and five moons and four rings on Neptune. Flybys can survey, take pictures, study magnetic fields, and much more! If you choose a flyby, where would you go? Remember your mission destination should be dark, dusty, or distant moon. Check out these other amazing flyby missions for inspiration: New Horizons and Pioneer 10 and 11.

Orbiters can study a planet for a long time, map it out, study its moons in detail, and detect changes over time, like weather patterns. A spacecraft that orbits is perfect for distant travel because it can decelerate at the right moment to get captured in orbit and observe the planet while orbiting it. The Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn for 13 years had a magnetometer, a spectrometer, a fields and particles instrument, and cameras that could see in infrared, ultraviolet, and visible light. Galileo was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, study its moons and it discovered evidence for liquid water under the moon Europa’s icy surface. What moon would you study in detail with an orbiter?

A lander spacecraft makes physical contact with the surface of its destination, stays where it is, and does all its functions in the place where it lands. Landers can also include scientific equipment like cameras, robotic arms, sensors, and much more. The Viking spacecraft consisted of two landers and they provided numerous new insights into the nature and history of dusty Mars and found all elements essential to life on Earth. Much of what we understand about the moon’s interior comes from the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, a collection of scientific instruments powered by RPS that monitored the environment such as mookquakes and magnetic fields at each Apollo landing site. But for your lander, remember to focus on a moon destination where RPS power is beneficial. Where would your lander's moon mission destination be, and what would be your mission goals? 

A rover has the added value of letting you land somewhere safe and then travel somewhere more interesting! Rovers can move around, explore, collect samples, and transmit data back to Earth. Perseverance and Curiosity are currently exploring and collecting valuable information on Mars. NASA’s Dragonfly mission will consist of a rotorcraft (multi-rotor vehicle) that will fly to dozens of locations on Saturn’s moon, Titian searching for the building blocks of life. Will your mission have a roving spacecraft? If so, think about what kind, where it would go, and what its purpose would be. And remember, pick a moon or place on a moon with limited light.

Some missions combine two different types of spacecraft. For example, the Viking 1 & 2 Mars Landers each consisted of an orbiter and a lander. It is important to note that the landers were powered by RPS and the orbiters used solar. The four Viking spacecraft were designed to take high-resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface, and search for evidence of life. If you were to combine two or more mission types, what would they be, and why combine them? If your mission type doesn’t fit into the categories above, no problem! Feel free to dream up anything you want; the possibilities are limitless.

No light, no problem! RPS does not need light to function. Because of this, it can be used to travel to places like Saturn's moons, Pluto's moon, or the Earth's Moon and its shadowed craters. Saturn’s available sunlight is only one hundredth, or one percent, of what we receive at Earth, and Pluto’s is only six hundredths of a percent of the amount of sunlight available at Earth. Since RPS does not rely on solar arrays, it can give spacecraft the power it needs to go to faraway places, or in deep craters with little available sunlight. What moon will your mission study with this unique ability?

Thinking of a mission to a dusty moon? RPS has you covered! Global dust storms are a regular occurrence on Mars, and Mars' two moons Phobos and Deimos are covered in dust and rocks. Dust accumulates on solar panels, limiting the amount of energy to operate solar-powered spacecraft. Fortunately, NASA’s rovers Perseverance and Curiosity, use RPS rather than solar panels, so they can keep working even when the environment gets dusty. Explore how RPS have helped these Mars rovers with their missions. In 2028 NASA will be launching the Dragonfly mission to Saturn's dusty moon Titan to explore the dunes and methane lakes. Learn how RPS help tese missions and think about how RPS could help power your moon destination.

RPS have the ability to power spacecraft traveling very long distances. NASA’s RPS-powered Voyager twin spacecraft, launched over 45 years ago and are over 14.6 billion miles away, and they continue to return valuable data to scientists on Earth. RPS was crucial, RPS was crucial for the New Horizons mission to Pluto’s moon Charon where it recently powered a mission that discovered jagged mountains and huge canyons. And thanks to RPS, the Voyager spacecraft have visited Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and are currently exploring interstellar space – the space between our solar system and other stars. Think about how far your mission will go, what moon it will explore, and what kind of data it will collect.

RPS offers the key advantage of operating continuously over long-duration space missions, which means you could plan a mission that stays active for a long time. RPS uses the heat from natural radioactive decay, which makes it independent of changes in sunlight, temperature, charged particle radiation, or surface conditions like thick clouds or dust. Voyager 1 & 2 have been active for over 45 years, and if you want, your mission can last a long time too!

RPS are mighty! These systems are very rugged which allows them to function in extreme environments. Check out the missions they have helped power here. In the future, radioisotope power systems could continue to support missions to extreme environments in our solar system like Jupiter’s moon Europa, the liquid methane lakes of Saturn’s moon Titan, the rings and moons of the giant ice planet Uranus or other extreme environments in our solar system and beyond.

The excess heat produced by some radioisotope power systems can be used to enable spacecraft instruments and other onboard systems to continue to operate effectively in extremely cold environments. In addition, Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) can be used for additional thermal control to keep computers and instruments warm, especially on solar-powered spacecraft, such as the Spirit and Opportunity rovers that explored Mars.

It takes many different people and skills to plan and operate a mission. Think about the goals of your mission and what skills you have to help accomplish those goals. Not all missions go exactly as planned. What kind of skills can you bring to the table to help resolve a challenge your moon mission might encounter? Whether it is the ability to problem solve, code a program for a microcontroller, communicate effectively, or some other skill, think about how you can contribute to mission success.

Just like RPS has qualities that make it well-suited for space exploration, YOU also have unique personality traits that make you suited for your RPS-powered moon mission. Are you determined, brave, positive, or ambitious? Are you adaptable, resilient, or stable under pressure? Think about the personality traits you have that would make your mission successful.

If your power doesn’t fit into the categories above, no problem! Choose any personal strength unique to you that will help you achieve mission success.

Look up most nights, and you can see Earth’s Moon in the sky. It’s about a quarter of a million miles away. The visible portion of the moon changes shape in monthly cycles, from a tiny sliver to a wider crescent to half lit to fully lit, and back again. If you look at the Moon with a telescope, you can see many craters of different sizes on the moon’s surface—most of these were formed by ancient asteroids and smaller boulders hitting the Moon billions of years ago…though we still find new craters appearing today in pictures from spacecraft in orbit around the Moon! During the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) mission, NASA’s Apollo astronauts used RPS to power science experiments that studied moonquakes, magnetic fields, the solar wind, and cosmic rays. What would your RPS-powered mission to the Earth’s Moon study?

The two moons of Mars – Phobos and Deimos – aren’t big enough to be shaped by gravity into being round rocky bodies. They look more like lumpy potatoes and are both covered in dust and rock. If you could stand on the surface of Mars, you would see one moon move east to west across the sky, and the other move west to east. Many scientists believe that these moons could have been wandering asteroids captured by the strong gravity of Mars millions of years ago. What would your RPS-powered mission study on one of Mars’ moons?

Jupiter has at least 95 moons! Its four largest moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Io is volcanically active, and its surface is covered in lava. Europa has an ice crust and a salty ocean underneath that contains twice the total volume of water on Earth. Scientists think Europa could have all the ingredients necessary to support life. NASA recently launched the Europa Clipper spacecraft to study Europa up close by orbiting Jupiter and making dozens of close flybys of Europa. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, while Callisto has the oldest surface – it is covered in craters. Both of these moons are mixtures of rock and ice, with oceans beneath their surfaces. Many close-up pictures and important measurements of Jupiter’s moons were taken by NASA’s Pioneer, Voyager, and Galileo spacecraft, all of which were powered by radioisotope power systems. Which one of Jupiter’s moons would your RPS-powered mission go and why?

Saturn has at least 146 moons, including many tiny moonlets. Titan, the largest of Saturn’s moons and second largest moon in our solar system, has a frigid surface covered in rivers, lakes, and seas of liquid ethane and methane, as well as vast expanses of sand dunes made of ice. Scientists believe that Titan has a salty ocean beneath its water-ice crust. NASA’s RPS-powered Dragonfly mission is being built now to explore Titan’s surface by using a robotic rotorcraft that will fly like a large drone from place to place. Enceladus is a geologically active moon of Saturn with ice geysers at its south pole that are feeding one of Saturn’s rings as the moon orbits around the planet. Hyperion is too small to be round and is covered with a lot of deep craters that gives it the appearance of a sea sponge. Saturn’s small moon Pan looks like a ravioli. Saturn’s moons were seen up close by the Cassini spacecraft. Which moon of Saturn would your RPS-powered mission go and why?

Uranus has 28 known moons, many of which we don’t know much about. The only close-up pictures of Uranus’ moons were taken by NASA’s radioisotope-powered Voyager 2 spacecraft. The moons Ariel and Miranda have large canyons on their surfaces. The backsides of Uranus’ moons are still a mystery, since they haven’t been seen up close yet, but scientist want to explore more. Which one of Uranus’ moons would your RPS-powered mission go and why?

Neptune has 16 known moons that are named for ancient gods of water, such as those from Greek mythology. Neptune’s moon Triton has a surface that looks like a cantaloupe. It is covered in frozen nitrogen ice and may have active liquid geysers.  Since Voyager 2 was the only spacecraft that has flown by Neptune and Triton, the only pictures we have of Triton are of one side of the moon – nobody knows what the back of the moon looks like. Triton is also unique in that it orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit, in the opposite direction of the planet’s orbit around the Sun. Which moon of Neptune would your RPS-powered mission go and why?

Pluto has 5 known moons, dominated by Charon, which is so large—nearly one-half the diameter of Pluto—that it makes Pluto wobble. Some scientists consider Pluto and Charon to be a double dwarf planetary system. The only close-up pictures of Charon were taken by NASA’s RPS-powered New Horizons mission, which showed a striking reddish coloration in its north polar region. Pluto’s moons Charon, Hydra, Kerberos, Styx, and Nix are named after characters and features in the underworld. Why is RPS-power ideal for studying Pluto’s moons? Which of Pluto’s moons would your mission study?