It’s widely known that a smoke detector is a good ionizing radiation source, as they contain a small amount of americium-241, a side product ... small amounts of plutonium-239, uranium-237 ...

A spacecraft power system that combines the technological know-how of engineers and scientists at the University of Leicester ...

As per Nature report, americium-241, while less powerful than plutonium-238, is cheaper and easier to obtain. This new approach assures that the ESA rover’s systems are working before it deploys ...