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The Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) is a radioisotope power system using Stirling power conversion technology currently being developed under joint sponsorship by the United States Department of Energy and NASA for potential future space missions. The higher conversion efficiency of the Stirling cycle compared with that of radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) used in previous missions (Viking, Pioneer, Voyager, Galileo, Ulysses, Cassini, and New Horizons) offers the advantage of a fourfold reduction in PuO₂ fuel.

One of the nine finalists proposed to use this generator is the TiME spacecraft lander mission to Titan, the largest moon of the planet Saturn, with a launch intended for January 2015.^[1][2] The prototype generator will have these specifications:^[3]

• ≥14 year lifetime
• Nominal power : 140 W
• Mass ~ 20 kg
• System efficiency: ~ 30 %
• 2 GPHS (“Pu²³⁸ Bricks”) modules
• Uses 0.8 kg Plutonium-238

References

• Advanced Stirling Technology Development at NASA Glenn Research Center
• Development of Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator for Space Exploration

See also

• Stirling Radioisotope Generator
• Radioisotope thermoelectric generator
• Radioisotope heater unit
• Stirling engine