IEEE Eastern Idaho Section Meeting

Date: 08 September 2006

Location: JB’s Restaurant; 850 Lindsay; Idaho Falls, Idaho; at noon

Presenter: Kelly Lively, Radioisotope Power Source Department

Presentation Title: “New Horizons: Shedding Light on Frontier Worlds”

Abstract:

Kelly Lively, Radioisotope Power Source (RPS) Department, will present a seminar on the New Horizons spacecraft launched by NASA on January 19, 2006 that is on its way to Pluto. The spacecraft is powered by a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) that was assembled and tested at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). She was one of the many design engineers during the construction phase of the Space and Security Power Source Facility (SSPSF) and transferred to the Pluto/New Horizons Project to become a Subject Matter Expert for Thermal Vacuum Testing of the RTG. Thermal Vacuum testing is the last acceptance test performed on an RTG where the power output is determined in a vacuum chamber which simulates near-earth space conditions. She was also the Lead Engineer for transportation of the RTG to Kennedy Space Center and subsequent ground operations supporting integration of the RTG to the New Horizons spacecraft. Kelly continues to work in the RPS Department as the Project Manager for the next NASA mission to Mars. A new multi-mission RTG will power a land rover and is scheduled to launch in September 2009.