DescriptionAEC-61-6410 This is an artist's concept of the TRANSIT satellite, the fist to receive auxiliary power from atomic energy. The white sphere atop the drum-shaped satellite is a radioisotope-fuelled SNAP generator, developed and built for the Atomic Energy Commission by The Martin Company. Fuelled with plutonium 238, the device is designed to provide continuous electrical energy to satellite radio transmitters for many years. SNAP is the AEC’s program for the development of compact, lightweight, long-lived atomic electric devices for space vehicles and other uses. In the orbiting generator, the spontaneous decay of a tiny amount of plutonium 238 generates heat. Thermocouples convert this heat directly into electrical energy. The generator was placed in the vehicle to provide power of instrumentation and to two of the four transmitters in the satellite. Credit The Martin Company
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