title: The Trump Organization

text: On January 18, James filed a motion to compel Trump and his two oldest children to appear in court, stating that "Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit." On February 17, a judge rejected an argument by a Trump attorney that the former president belongs to a protected class and ordered the Trumps to testify; the First Judicial Department of the Supreme Court of New York State upheld this ruling on May 26. From late April to late June, Trump was held in civil contempt for failing to provide subpoenaed documents. Subsequently, real-estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, which conducted appraisals for several Trump Organization properties (before cutting ties by January 2021), was held in contempt for failing to meet a deadline for subpoenaed documents.


title: The Trump Organization

text: On September 21, 2022, James announced a civil lawsuit against Trump, his three oldest children, and the organization for fraud and other forms of misrepresentation, citing over 200 alleged instances and asserting that Trump "wildly exaggerated his net worth by billions of dollars". The suit sought $250 million in penalties and future restrictions on Trump family business activities in New York State. In advance of filing the suit, Trump sat for a deposition during which he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over 440 times. On November 3, the New York judge overseeing the lawsuit approved James's request for an independent monitor to prevent future fraud by the organization, specifically requiring the judge's approval before any assets were sold or transferred. James found that days before her suit was filed, Trump attorneys had created a new Delaware corporation, dubbed Trump Organization II, which she was concerned could be used to protect Trump's assets from a financial judgment.


title: The Trump Organization

text: After weeks of internal debate within the district attorney's office about the strength of the evidence against Trump, two top prosecutors in the case resigned in February 2022 after new district attorney Alvin Bragg said he was not prepared to authorize an indictment of Trump personally. One of the prosecutors who resigned, Mark Pomerantz, stated in his resignation letter that Trump was "guilty of numerous felony violations" and that he was confident it could be proven in court. Bragg's spokeswoman later said the investigation was continuing. The criminal trial against the Trump Organization began on October 24.


title: The Trump Organization

text: On December 6, 2022, a New York jury convicted the Trump Organization on all 17 of its tax fraud charges. One entity, The Trump Corporation, was convicted of nine criminal charges, while its other entity, The Trump Payroll Corporation, was convicted of eight criminal charges as well.


title: The Trump Organization

text: As of 2019, Trump's net worth (as estimated by "Forbes") was $3.1 billion, with about half of that coming from his New York City real estate holdings, and about a third coming from his national and international properties (including hotels and golf courses). Licensing fees paid by outside owners for using Trump's name on their properties also contribute to his overall net worth.


title: The Trump Organization

text: In 2010, Trump took over the management of the Central Park Carousel, a merry-go-round located in Manhattan's Central Park, promising to revive the merry-go-round after its previous operator was removed by the city's parks department. The carousel generated $589,000 from annual admissions. The Trump Organization had a contract to operate the carousel through April 2021. The contract was awarded to another company in 2021.


title: The Trump Organization

text: In 1986, Trump rebuilt the deteriorating Wollman Rink two months ahead of schedule and $750,000 under the $2.5 million price ceiling imposed by the city. Trump asked his contractors, among them HRH Construction, to do the work without making a profit, promising them publicity but not mentioning their contributions to the press afterwards. Trump was given a concession to operate the rink for a year, with the profits to be given to charity. In 1987, as part of the agreement to keep operating Wollman Rink, the Trump Organization agreed to also take a concession for the Lasker Rink; they held the concessions until 1995.


title: The Trump Organization

text: In 2001, a Trump-owned subsidiary, Wollman Rink Operations LLC, won another concession to operate the rinks until April 30, 2021. Wollman Rink Operations LLC is owned by DJT Holdings LLC which was owned by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust for the duration of Trump's presidency. The Trump name was prominently displayed on the walls of the Wollman Rink and on the Zamboni maintaining the ice. In 2019, the Trump Organization replaced the name with Wollman Rink logos. In his financial disclosure filed in May 2018, Trump reported nearly $35 million in income from the two rinks since 2015.


title: The Trump Organization

text: Trump Winery is a winery situated on Trump Vineyard Estates near Charlottesville, Virginia. It is valued between $5 million and $25 million.


title: The Trump Organization

text: The vineyard was purchased by Trump in April 2011 from Patricia Kluge, the widow of John Kluge. The property was distressed. and was officially opened in October 2011. Trump Winery is situated in the Monticello Wine Trail. Trump's son Eric was a partner in the purchase.


title: The Trump Organization

text: The Trump Organization owns or manages seventeen golf courses in the United States, Scotland, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates. , Trump listed income of at least $176 million in an 18-month span from his golf courses—about 41% of the low-end estimate of his income.


title: The Trump Organization

text: Many developers pay Donald Trump to market their properties and be the public face for their projects. For that reason, Trump does not own many of the buildings that display his name. According to "Forbes", this portion of Trump's empire, actually run by his children, has a valuation of $562 million. According to "Forbes", there were 33 licensing projects under development including seven "condo hotels" (the seven Trump International Hotel and Tower developments). Trump has generated more than $74 million in real estate licensing deals and has $823.3 million worth of real estate in joint ventures.


title: The Trump Organization

text: The company, which did business as the Trump Hotel Collection (THC) until it was renamed Trump Hotels, manages Trump properties and Trump-branded hotels, residential buildings, and golf courses worldwide.


title: The Trump Organization

text: In 2008, THC formed a consortium with the Evergrande Real Estate Group and a Hongkong-based fund to bid on the construction of the tallest skyscraper in Guangzhou. The bid fell apart when Evergrande withdrew during the global recession. In 2012, Trump Hotels opened an office in Shanghai and in 2014 entered into a branding and management partnership with the State Grid Corporation of China, China's largest state-owned company, for a major development in Beijing. The project was abandoned a few months into Trump's 2016 presidential campaign when Chinese authorities began a corruption investigation into State Grid.


title: The Trump Organization

text: Early in the Trump presidency, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. announced the creation of two new signature hotel brands, Scion and American Idea, as "the next generation of the company". After initially announcing as many as thirty potential deals in their pipeline, the ventures were scrapped in early 2019, with only one uncompleted hotel in Mississippi.


title: The Trump Organization

text: Trump owns a wide variety of other enterprises outside real estate (which had an estimated 2013 value of $317.6 million). Other investments include a 17.2% stake in Parker Adnan, Inc. (formerly AdnanCo Group), a Bermuda-based financial services holdings company. He took in $1.1 million in men's wear licensing royalties. Trump earns $15,000 to $100,000 in book royalties and $2.2 million for his involvement with Trump Model Management every year. Until 2015, Trump owned the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants, collectively worth $15 million.


title: The Trump Organization

text: Trump has marketed his name on a large number of products and services achieving mixed success doing so. Some of his external entrepreneurial and investment ventures include or have included:


title: The Trump Organization

text: In 2005, Trump reportedly received $1.5 million for a one-hour lecture at The Learning Annex Real Estate World Expo, with another seven events scheduled for a total fee of $12 million. In a court deposition two years later, Trump admitted that he was paid $400,000.


title: The Trump Organization

text: The Trump Organization also housed ventures started by Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, including Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry (a jewelry line) and the Ivanka Trump Lifestyle Collection (a high-end designer-fashion and cosmetics line that includes fragrances, footwear, handbags, outerwear and eyewear collections); the ventures were discontinued in 2017 and 2018, respectively.


title: The Trump Organization

text: From 2005 to 2015, Trump was paid $8.8 million for promoting multi-level marketing telecommunications company ACN Inc. and its products on ACN's website, promotional DVDs and at their events, and on his "The Apprentice" reality-TV show.


title: The Trump Organization

text: In July 2019, a Southern District of New York (SDNY) district judge permitted state-level charges of fraud, false advertising, and unfair competition against Donald Trump and his children Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric related to their involvement with ACN. The Trumps are accused of not having disclosed that they were being paid by ACN when they recommended the company as a sound investment. As part of the discovery process, the Trumps were ordered in March 2020 to provide information from Trump Organization business records back to 2005. In April 2020, a federal judge ordered MGM, the majority owner of "Celebrity Apprentice", to release unaired tapes of two episodes of the show to the attorneys of plaintiffs who accuse the four Trumps of misleading them to invest in ACN; in the episodes, celebrity contestants competed to produce commercials for an ACN product. The Trumps appealed the ruling and unsuccessfully sought to deal with the dispute via arbitration. In November 2021, a federal judge ordered MGM to make the tapes available to the plaintiffs' attorneys at a secure location.


title: The Trump Organization

text: Joseph E. Davies, third husband of Marjorie Merriweather Post and a former U.S. ambassador of Welsh origins, was granted a coat of arms, bearing the motto "Integritas", by British heraldic authorities in 1939. After Donald Trump purchased , the Florida estate built by Merriweather Post, in 1985, the Trump Organization started using Davies's coat of arms at Trump golf courses and estates across the country. It was also registered with the U.S. patent and trademark office.


title: The Trump Organization

text: In 2008, Trump attempted to establish the American logo at his new Trump International Golf Links in Balmedie, Scotland, but was warned by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the highest authority for Scottish heraldry, that an act of the Scottish Parliament from 1672 disallows people using unregistered arms. In January 2012, shortly after the inauguration of the golf course, Trump unveiled the new coat of arms that had been granted to "The Trump International Golf Club Scotland Ltd" by the Lord Lyon in 2011.


title: The Trump Organization

text: Sarah Malone, executive vice-president of "The Trump International Golf Links, Scotland", said that "the coat of arms brings together visual elements that signify different aspects of the Trump family heritage [...], the Lion Rampant [in the crest] makes reference to Scotland and the stars to America. Three chevronels are used to denote the sky, sand dunes and sea—the essential components of the site, and the double-[headed] Eagle represents the dual nature and nationality of Trump's heritage (Scottish and German). The Eagle clutches golf balls making reference to the great name of golf, and the motto "Numquam Concedere" is Latin for Never Give Up—Trump's philosophy."


title: The Trump Organization

text: From 2014, Trump used the same logo for "The Trump International Golf Links, Ireland", the golf resort built from his acquisition of Doonbeg Golf Club.


title: Ariana Grande discography

text: The discography of American singer, songwriter and actress Ariana Grande consists of six studio albums, two compilation albums, one live album, two extended plays (EPs), fifty-three singles (including sixteen as a featured artist), and fifteen promotional singles. After signing with Republic Records, she released her debut single "Put Your Hearts Up" in December 2011. Throughout her career thus far, Grande has sold over 90 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), she has sold 9 million albums and 64 million digital singles units in the United States. Having amassed over 105 billion consumed streams thus far, Grande is the most streamed female artist ever. She is also the most streamed female artist on Spotify (2010s decade) and Apple Music. She has amassed 71 chart entries on the "Billboard" Hot 100—the fourth most entries for a female artist—including six number ones and 19 top-10 hits so far. Grande was named the sixth top female artist of the 2010s decade (twelfth overall), and was ranked among Billboard's Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Artists, at number 78. Grande is also one of the most certified female artist in the UK, with nearly 25 million units.


title: Ariana Grande discography

text: In April 2013, Grande made her chart debut with "The Way" featuring American rapper Mac Miller, which peaked at number nine on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in the United States. Her debut studio album, "Yours Truly", reached the top ten in multiple countries while debuting at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 albums chart, subsequently being certified Platinum in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album spawned two more singles in 2013: "Baby I" and "Right There", the former peaked at number six in Japan. In December 2013, Grande released her first extended play, "Christmas Kisses", featuring four Christmas-themed tracks. The EP was re-released in December 2014, exclusive to Japan only, with one bonus track, Grande's Christmas single "Santa Tell Me".


title: Ariana Grande discography

text: Grande released her second studio album, "My Everything", in August 2014. The album became her second consecutive number-one record on the "Billboard" 200. Its lead single, "Problem", became an international hit and reached the top 10 of many major music charts worldwide, including number two in the United States and number one in the United Kingdom. The subsequent two singles, "Break Free" and "Bang Bang", also achieved similar international success and, as "Problem", both reached the top five in the United States. All three singles managed to chart within the "Billboard" Hot 100's top 10 simultaneously, making Grande the second lead female artist to achieve the feat. The latter single also went on to become a number one hit single in the United Kingdom. The fourth and fifth singles from the album, "Love Me Harder" and "One Last Time", each respectively peaked at number 7 and number 13 in the United States, making her the only artist to score four top 10 hits on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 2014. All singles from "My Everything" have been certified Platinum or more by the RIAA, while the album has been certified 2× Platinum. In June 2015, Grande released her first remix album, titled "The Remix", exclusively to Japan only, consisting of tracks from her first two studio albums.


title: Ariana Grande discography

text: Grande's third studio album, "Dangerous Woman", was released in May 2016. The record peaked at number two in the United States while topping the charts in the United Kingdom, Italy and 11 other countries. Its eponymous lead single debuted at number 10 and peaked at number eight on the "Billboard" Hot 100, making her the first and only artist in the chart's history to debut in the top 10 with the lead single from each of her first three albums. Her next two singles, "Into You" and "Side to Side", achieved commercial success, with both singles entering the top 20 in the United States and the United Kingdom. In February 2017, Grande and John Legend recorded and covered the song "Beauty and the Beast" for the 2017 live-action adaption of the same name. The theme song peaked at number 10 in Japan, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). "No Tears Left to Cry", the lead single from Grande's fourth studio album, "Sweetener" (2018), reached number one in Australia and Norway and the top three in the US. The fifth studio album "Thank U, Next" was released in February 2019. The lead single of the same name debuted at number one simultaneously in the US and the UK. The next two singles, "7 Rings" and "Break Up with Your Girlfriend, I'm Bored" debuted at number one and number two respectively in the United States, and topped the charts in the United Kingdom. With these singles, Grande became the first solo artist to occupy the top three spots on the "Billboard" Hot 100 simaltaneously. Both albums were commercial and critical successes, landing at the top of the charts globally, whilst breaking and setting multiple chart and streaming records. The latter album broke the records for the largest streaming week for a pop album and for a female album in the United States with 307 million on-demand streams. Grande's sixth studio album, "Positions", was released in October 2020, with its lead single of the same name debuting at number one in the US and the UK simultaneously.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Kyle Howard Rittenhouse (born January 3, 2003) is an American known for shooting three men, two fatally, during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020 when he was 17 years old. At his trial in November 2021, a jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of murder and other charges after he testified that he acted in self-defense.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse's prosecution became a cause célèbre for right-wing organizations and media. Following his trial, he attended several events hosted by conservative organizations and individuals, including a meeting with former president Donald Trump, television features with political commentator Tucker Carlson, and guest appearances at several Turning Point USA productions. Rittenhouse's likeness has been used by fans to sell products, especially T-shirts. In 2022, he started a fundraising effort to sue media outlets in civil court for alleged defamation and announced a video game, "Kyle Rittenhouse's Turkey Shoot," to raise funds for legal defense.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Kyle Howard Rittenhouse was born on January 3, 2003 in Antioch, Illinois, to Michael and Wendy Rittenhouse. A white American, his parents were married in Lake County, Illinois, in February 2000, three years before his birth. He has two siblings, an older sister and a younger sister. His parents separated by 2014.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: As a high school freshman, Rittenhouse participated in the Explorers program at the Grayslake Police Department, as well as a cadet program at the Antioch Fire Department, with the goal of becoming a paramedic or working in law enforcement. Eventually transitioning to online school, he dropped out and left Lakes Community High School altogether in 2018 after attending for one semester in 2017–2018. He expressed interest in law enforcement through publicly-viewable social media posts. In December 2018, Rittenhouse started a fundraiser through Facebook for Humanizing the Badge, a nonprofit. Other posts revolved around "honoring police, with Blue Lives Matter graphics, photos of officers killed in the line of duty, and the "thin blue line" flag associated with support for law enforcement." On his TikTok profile description, Rittenhouse had written, "BLUE LIVES MATTER 🔵" and "Trump 2020 🇺🇸 🇺🇸".


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: On January 30, 2020, Rittenhouse attended a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa, seated in the front row. He got a part-time job as a lifeguard at the YMCA in Lindenhurst, but was furloughed in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: On August 25, 2020, when he was 17, Rittenhouse shot three men during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin that followed the shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a police officer. Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and had joined a group of armed citizens in Kenosha who had said they were there to protect local businesses. After a man chased him into a parking lot and grabbed the barrel of his rifle, Rittenhouse fatally shot him. Rittenhouse fled and was pursued by a crowd. He fatally shot a second man after he struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard and tried to grab his rifle. Rittenhouse wounded a third when he was approached and had a handgun pointed at him.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: At a criminal trial in Kenosha in November 2021, prosecutors argued that Rittenhouse was seen as an active shooter and had provoked the other participants while defense lawyers argued that he had acted in self-defense, stating that he had used force necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself. A jury weighed two counts of homicide, two counts of attempted homicide, and one count of reckless endangerment, and found Rittenhouse not guilty. Public sentiment and media coverage of the shootings was polarized and politicized, with an "Economist"/YouGov poll finding that two-thirds of Republicans thought Rittenhouse should be acquitted while three-quarters of Democrats thought he should be convicted.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: The family of one of the men who was fatally shot filed a civil suit against the police and county sheriff's departments in Kenosha in August 2021, and added Rittenhouse as a named defendant in January 2022.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: After the acquittal, Rittenhouse was sought for media appearances and attended a number of Republican and conservative events described as a public relations campaign and publicity tour. During the tour, he was represented by publicist Jillian Anderson, a former contestant on season 19 of the reality TV show "The Bachelor". A picture of the two released on November 22, 2021 went viral on social media.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: A film crew for Tucker Carlson and Fox Nation followed Rittenhouse during the trial for a documentary feature, against the advice of Rittenhouse's attorneys.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Carlson of Fox News held an exclusive interview with Rittenhouse for "Tucker Carlson Tonight" immediately following his acquittal. Two days later on November 22, 2021, the hour-long episode titled "The Kyle Rittenhouse Interview" released, where Carlson interviewed him about a wide range of subjects. In the interview, Rittenhouse said he would eventually like to become a lawyer or nurse. He also said that he supported the Black Lives Matter movement and "peacefully demonstrating". Carlson introduced Rittenhouse as "bright, decent, sincere, dutiful, and hardworking... exactly the kind of person you would want many more of in your country." The episode was the second-most watched episode of the show's run since it premiered in 2016, following the episode on the 2021 U.S. Capitol attack earlier in 2021. It was watched by 4.942 million viewers (the show averages 3.16 million viewers) and had more than four times the viewers of any other network, leading "TheWrap" to state that the interview "crushed the rest of cable news" on the night it aired. The "Los Angeles Times" said the interview canonized Rittenhouse and made him a "patron saint of right-wing violence", while categorizing it as an overly sympathetic "soft ball" interview. Rittenhouse and Fox News both denied he was compensated in any way for the interview.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Former President Trump announced on Sean Hannity's show that Rittenhouse had requested a meeting, saying, "He called. He wanted to know if he could come over, say hello, because he was a fan." Rittenhouse, his mother, and Trump met at Mar-a-Lago, the same day the "Tucker Carlson Tonight" interview aired on November 22, 2021. Trump called him "really a nice young man," and the two were photographed together.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse has appeared at several events run by Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit organization, including a panel called "Kenosha on Camera" at Turning Point USA's conservative youth conference AmericaFest in December 2021. Held on the third day of the conference on December 20, the panel consisted of Rittenhouse, Charlie Kirk, Jack Posobiec, Elijah Schaffer, and Drew Hernandez. During the panel, Rittenhouse said, "I think my trial was an example of them trying to come after our Second Amendment rights, our right to defend ourselves and trying to take our weapons." Kirk described him as a "hero to millions," and the crowd gave him a standing ovation after chanting his name. The organization arranging the event said Rittenhouse was not compensated for the 45-minute panel appearance.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse also appeared onstage at a Turning Point Young Women's Leadership Summit in 2022, introduced as "the kind of man you should want to be attracted to" who would "protect [his] family" and "stand strong in the face of opposition from culture and evil".


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse has been a guest on several podcasts, including the Blaze Media project "You Are Here", hosted by Elijah Schaffer and Sydney Watson, where Rittenhouse said going to protests was "not the best idea". He also appeared on "The Jenna Ellis Show," hosted by former Trump staffer Jenna Ellis. On that show, he expressed fear of harassment and said he was afraid to run errands. He denied being a racist, domestic terrorist, or white supremacist, saying he had been attacked by those who described him in these terms. Rittenhouse also said he had reached out to President Joe Biden several times but had not received a response, adding, "He still hasn't replied. So it just shows how much of a man he is to not sit down and talk."


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: While campaigning for president in 2020, Biden used images of Rittenhouse in a campaign video he tweeted the day after the September 29 presidential debate. The BBC wrote the video "appeared to link Rittenhouse, without any evidence, to white supremacists." Rittenhouse said using his image and linking him to white supremacy was "actual malice, defaming my character, for him to say something like that." Charles Homans, writing for "the New York Times", reported that Rittenhouse was adopted as an informal mascot of the Proud Boys and was photographed surrounded by members of the group after he was released on bond.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Right-wing memes using Rittenhouse's image have spread on social media. In a study of his image being used as a meme on Twitter, the Global Network on Extremism and Ideology found thousands of instances of Rittenhouse's face and commentary on his actions shared through a variety of different hashtags. Multiple political figures have shared those memes, including Donald Trump Jr. and Barry Moore. In March 2022, Rittenhouse shared a meme of himself crying while on the witness stand during his trial to protest rising gas prices, which he tweeted was "thanks to a Joe Biden presidency".


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse's image has been used for a number of products and sales, including clothing, a gun sale, and a video game. Fans of Rittenhouse have continued to sell clothing with his image following the trial. In 2020, YouTube was criticized for a lack of adequate content moderation – arbitrarily allowing videos depicting Rittenhouse which glorified violence and monetized the killings through links to merchandise – until it was pointed out by a BBC journalist.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: The week following Rittenhouse's acquittal, the Saddle River Range gun store in Conroe, Texas held a "not guilty" sale and the owner posted a photo of Rittenhouse with a gun on their Instagram page.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: The same week, speculation on a book deal began. Attorney Andrew M. Stroth, who previously worked as a talent agent, said Rittenhouse could "easily" get a book contract over $1 million. In January 2022, Rittenhouse spokesman David Hancock said Rittenhouse was considering writing a book chronicling his "unorthodox journey into adulthood". He further said the discussions were in the "early phase".


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In March 2022, Swedish company Nordic Empire Games launched a video game featuring Rittenhouse called "Acquitted". Described as a far-right extremist group owned by William Hahne, the organization created the game that features Rittenhouse shooting his way through crowds of zombies with the choice of 18 different weapons. It was launched through the Steam hosting platform and available for $5. It was not announced if Nordic Empire Games had sought permission to use Rittenhouse's image.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: On June 23, 2022, Rittenhouse announced a video game called "Kyle Rittenhouse's Turkey Shoot," developed by Mint Studios, for the purpose of funding his media defamation suits. The video game, which features a cartoon Rittenhouse holding a bright orange gun with the aim of shooting turkeys that represent the media, has no stated release date. In a social media advertisement for the game, Rittenhouse described the media as "nothing but a bunch of turkeys with nothing better to do than to push their lying agenda and destroy innocent people's lives."


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse has been publicly offered multiple internships, all by Republican lawmakers. On November 17, 2021, two days before the jury's decision, Florida House Representative Matt Gaetz offered him an internship. In response, Arizona House Representative Paul Gosar tweeted he would arm-wrestle Gaetz for the chance to have Rittenhouse as an intern. On the day the jury found Rittenhouse not guilty, North Carolina House Representative Madison Cawthorn offered Rittenhouse an internship. During an appearance on "Newsmax", Colorado House Representative Lauren Boebert responded to Cawthorn's offer and challenged Cawthorn, who is bound to a wheelchair, to "a sprint" to employ Rittenhouse as an intern. In response to Gaetz, Gosar, and Cawthorn offering the internships, Missouri House representative Cori Bush called for their expulsion, tweeting "Not only do these members fuel violence. Now they're actively recruiting someone whose sole qualification is killing people standing up for Black lives and getting away with it."


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: At least two laws, a bill, and a proclamation have been proposed in different states which have been named after Rittenhouse. In November 2021, U.S. House representative from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced the Kyle H. Rittenhouse Congressional Gold Medal Act (H.R.6070) during the 117th United States Congress. The bill, which would award Rittenhouse the Congressional Gold Medal, had no co-sponsors. Taylor Greene said, "Kyle Rittenhouse deserves to be remembered as a hero who defended his community, protected businesses, and acted lawfully in the face of lawlessness. I'm proud to file this legislation to award Kyle Rittenhouse a Congressional Gold Medal."


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In November 2021, Oklahoma Senate Representative Nathan Dahm introduced Senate Bill 1120, called "Kyle's Law". The bill states if a defendant is charged with murder, but is found not guilty due to justifiable homicide, the state must reimburse them. A modified version of the bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a majority Republican party-line 7–3 vote in February 2022.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In January 2022, Tennessee State Representative Bruce Griffey introduced HB1769, also known as "Kyle's Law". "The Hill" said the law "would require the state to reimburse defendants found not guilty of homicide charges due to self-defense." Griffey additionally proposed a proclamation be created in honor of Rittenhouse, saying he "deserves to be recognized as a hero."


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In November 2022, Rittenhouse met with Republican House of Representative members of the Second Amendment Caucus to discuss his experiences and answer questions from the caucus. The meeting was held at the Conservative Partnership Institute in Washington D.C. Caucus members who were present included Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Thomas Massie (R-KY), Andrew Clyde (R-GA) and Byron Donalds (R-FL). Rittenhouse said, "I'm 19 and just got to speak with leaders of the greatest country on earth! This was an amazing evening where I got to share my story and discuss the importance of the Second Amendment. Even while the radical left continues to sue me and disparage my name, I know these great leaders have my back."


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In February 2022, Rittenhouse announced he was launching the Media Accountability Project, sometimes referred to by its acronym TMAP, during another interview on "Tucker Carlson Tonight", saying:


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse's announcement drew a comparison by "The Tennessee Star" to Nicholas Sandmann, a Covington Catholic High School student from Kentucky who became known for the January 2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In 2022, a satirical story turned into a rumor circulating on social media saying that Rittenhouse had filed and settled a lawsuit against Whoopi Goldberg and "The View". The story was false.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: Rittenhouse launched a YouTube channel focusing on guns and the Second Amendment on October 16, 2022. His first video on the channel showed him firing a handgun and an automatic rifle and included the YouTube gun advocate Brandon Herrera as a guest.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In October 2021, Rittenhouse started taking online classes at Arizona State University as a non-degree seeking student, and wanted to transition to in-person classes. Non-degree seeking students at ASU go through a "modified admissions process" instead of the full admissions process for degree-seeking students. ASU students held a rally called "Killer off campus" to protest Rittenhouse's enrollment. Multiple student groups organized the rally, including: Students for Justice in Palestine, Students for Socialism, ASU's MEChA chapter, and the Multicultural Solidarity Coalition. By the next month, he had withdrawn.


title: Kyle Rittenhouse

text: In a June 2022 appearance on "The Charlie Kirk Show", Rittenhouse said he would be attending Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas; a spokesperson from the university denied he had been accepted. After that announcement, Rittenhouse posted on Twitter he would be attending Blinn College, a junior college and what he referred to as a "feeder school" for Texas A&M. A Blinn College spokesperson confirmed Rittenhouse had applied, but had "not enrolled for a current or upcoming term."


title: Game engine

text: A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software industry.


title: Game engine

text: The game engine can also refer to the development software utilizing this framework, typically offering a suite of tools and features for developing games.


title: Game engine

text: Developers can use game engines to construct games for video game consoles and other types of computers. The core functionality typically provided by a game engine may include a rendering engine ("renderer") for 2D or 3D graphics, a physics engine or collision detection (and collision response), sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, localization support, scene graph, and video support for cinematics. Game engine implementers often economize on the process of game development by reusing/adapting, in large part, the same game engine to produce different games


title: Game engine

text: In many cases, game engines provide a suite of visual development tools in addition to reusable software components. These tools are generally provided in an integrated development environment to enable simplified, rapid development of games in a data-driven manner. Game-engine developers often attempt to preempt implementer needs by developing robust software suites which include many elements a game developer may need to build a game. Most game-engine suites provide facilities that ease development, such as graphics, sound, physics and artificial-intelligence (AI) functions. These game engines are sometimes called "middleware" because, as with the business sense of the term, they provide a flexible and reusable software platform which provides all the core functionality needed, right out of the box, to develop a game application while reducing costs, complexities, and time-to-market — all critical factors in the highly competitive video-game industry.


title: Game engine

text: Like other types of middleware, game engines usually provide platform abstraction, allowing the same game to run on various platforms (including game consoles and personal computers) with few, if any, changes made to the game source-code. Often, programmers design game engines with a component-based architecture that allows specific systems in the engine to be replaced or extended with more specialized (and often more expensive) game-middleware components. Some game engines comprise a series of loosely connected game middleware components that can be selectively combined to create a custom engine, instead of the more common approach of extending or customizing a flexible integrated product. However achieved, extensibility remains a high priority for game engines due to the wide variety of uses for which they are applied. Despite the specificity of the name "game engine", end-users often re-purpose game engines for other kinds of interactive applications with real-time graphical requirements - such as marketing demos, architectural visualizations, training simulations, and modeling environments.


title: Game engine

text: Some game engines only provide real-time 3D rendering capabilities instead of the wide range of functionality needed by games. These engines rely upon the game developer to implement the rest of this functionality or to assemble it from other game-middleware components. These types of engines are generally referred to as a "graphics engine", "rendering engine", or "3D engine" instead of the more encompassing term "game engine". This terminology is inconsistently used, as many full-featured 3D game engines are referred to simply as "3D engines". Examples of graphics engines include: Crystal Space, Genesis3D, Irrlicht, OGRE, RealmForge, Truevision3D, and Vision Engine. Modern game- or graphics-engines generally provide a scene graph - an object-oriented representation of the 3D game-world which often simplifies game design and can be used for more efficient rendering of vast virtual worlds.


title: Game engine

text: As technology ages, the components of an engine may become outdated or insufficient for the requirements of a given project. Since the complexity of programming an entirely new engine may result in unwanted delays (or necessitate that a project restart from the beginning), an engine-development team may elect to update their existing engine with newer functionality or components.


title: Game engine

text: Before game engines, games were typically written as singular entities: a game for the Atari 2600, for example, had to be designed from the bottom up to make optimal use of the display hardware—this core display routine is today called the kernel by developers of games for older systems. Other platforms had more leeway, but even when the display was not a concern, memory constraints usually sabotaged attempts to create the data-heavy design that an engine needs. Even on more accommodating platforms, very little could be reused between games. The rapid advance of arcade hardware—which was the leading edge of the market at the time—meant that most of the code would have to be thrown out afterwards anyway, as later generations of games would use completely different game designs that took advantage of extra resources. Thus most game designs through the 1980s were designed through a hard-coded rule set with a small number of levels and graphics data. Since the golden age of arcade video games, it became common for video game companies to develop in-house game engines for use with first-party software.


title: Game engine

text: A notable example of an in-house game engine on home consoles in the mid-1980s was the smooth side-scrolling engine developed by Shigeru Miyamoto's team at Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The engine they had developed for the side-scrolling racing game "Excitebike" (1984) was later employed for the scrolling platformer "Super Mario Bros." (1985). This had the effect of allowing Mario to smoothly accelerate from a walk to a run, rather than move at a constant speed like in earlier platformers.


title: Game engine

text: While third-party game engines were not common up until the rise of 3D computer graphics in the 1990s, there were several 2D game creation systems produced in the 1980s for independent video game development. These include "Pinball Construction Set" (1983), ASCII's "War Game Construction Kit" (1983), "Thunder Force Construction" (1984), "Adventure Construction Set" (1984), Garry Kitchen's GameMaker (1985), "Wargame Construction Set" (1986), "Shoot-'Em-Up Construction Kit" (1987), "Arcade Game Construction Kit" (1988), and most popularly ASCII's "RPG Maker" engines from 1998 onward. Klik & Play (1994) is another legacy offering that's still available.


title: Game engine

text: The term "game engine" arose in the mid-1990s, especially in connection with 3D games such as first-person shooters with a first-person shooter engine. Epic games, founded by developer Tim Sweeney, debuted Unreal Engine in the year 1998.


title: Game engine

text: Such was the popularity of Id Software's "Doom" and "Quake" games that, rather than work from scratch, other developers licensed the core portions of the software and designed their own graphics, characters, weapons and levels—the "game content" or "game assets". Separation of game-specific rules and data from basic concepts like collision detection and game entity meant that teams could grow and specialize.


title: Game engine

text: Later games, such as id Software's "Quake III Arena" and Epic Games's 1998 "Unreal" were designed with this approach in mind, with the engine and content developed separately. The practice of licensing such technology has proved to be a useful auxiliary revenue stream for some game developers, as one license for a high-end commercial game engine can range from US$10,000 to millions of dollars, and the number of licensees can reach several dozen companies, as seen with the Unreal Engine. At the very least, reusable engines make developing game sequels faster and easier, which is a valuable advantage in the competitive video game industry. While there was a strong rivalry between Epic and id around 2000, since then Epic's Unreal Engine has been far more popular than id Tech 4 and its successor id Tech 5.


title: Game engine

text: Modern game engines are some of the most complex applications written, often featuring dozens of finely tuned systems interacting to ensure a precisely controlled user experience. The continued evolution of game engines has created a strong separation between rendering, scripting, artwork, and level design. It is now common, for example, for a typical game development team to have several times as many artists as actual programmers.


title: Game engine

text: First-person shooter games remain the predominant users of third-party game engines, but they are now also being used in other genres. For example, the role-playing video game "" and the MMORPG "Dark Age of Camelot" are based on the Gamebryo engine, and the MMORPG "Lineage II" is based on the Unreal Engine. Game engines are used for games originally developed for home consoles as well; for example, the RenderWare engine is used in the "Grand Theft Auto" and "Burnout" franchises.


title: Game engine

text: Threading is taking on more importance due to modern multi-core systems (e.g. Cell) and increased demands in realism. Typical threads involve rendering, streaming, audio, and physics. Racing games have typically been at the forefront of threading with the physics engine running in a separate thread long before other core subsystems were moved, partly because rendering and related tasks need updating at only 30–60 Hz. For example, on PlayStation 3, physics ran in "Need For Speed" at 100 Hz versus "Forza Motorsport 2" at 360 Hz.


title: Game engine

text: Although the term was first used in the 1990s, there are a few earlier systems in the 1980s that are also considered to be game engines, such as Sierra's Adventure Game Interpreter (AGI) and SCI systems, LucasArts' SCUMM system and Incentive Software's Freescape engine (in 1986). Unlike most modern game engines, these game engines were never used in any third-party products (except for the SCUMM system which was licensed to and used by Humongous Entertainment).


title: Game engine

text: As game engine technology matures and becomes more user-friendly, the application of game engines has broadened in scope. They are now being used for serious games: visualization, training, medical, and military simulation applications, with the CryEngine being one example. To facilitate this accessibility, new hardware platforms are now being targeted by game engines, including mobile phones (e.g. Android phones, iPhone) and web browsers (e.g. WebGL, Shockwave, Flash, Trinigy's WebVision, Silverlight, Unity Web Player, O3D and pure DHTML).


title: Game engine

text: Additionally, more game engines are being built upon higher level languages such as Java and C#/.NET (e.g. TorqueX, and Visual3D.NET), Python (Panda3D), or Lua Script (Leadwerks). As most 3D rich games are now mostly GPU-limited (i.e. limited by the power of the graphics card), the potential slowdown due to translation overheads of higher level languages becomes negligible, while the productivity gains offered by these languages work to the game engine developers' benefit. These recent trends are being propelled by companies such as Microsoft to support indie game development. Microsoft developed XNA as the SDK of choice for all video games released on Xbox and related products. This includes the Xbox Live Indie Games channel designed specifically for smaller developers who don't have the extensive resources necessary to box games for sale on retail shelves. It is becoming easier and cheaper than ever to develop game engines for platforms that support managed frameworks.


title: Game engine

text: Producers of game engines decide how they allow users to utilize their products. Just as gaming is an industry, so are the engines they are built off. The major game engines come at varying prices, whether it be in the form of subscription fees or license payments. The Unity engine and the Unreal Engine are currently the two most popular choices for game developers. Although the differences among the different game engines blur as they build their own tools on top of them, different game developers may be too used to a system to change, or attracted by the huge benefits of such engines regardless of pay-walls.


title: Game engine

text: In the broader sense of the term, game engines themselves can be described as middleware. In the context of video games, however, the term "middleware" is often used to refer to subsystems of functionality within a game engine. Some game middleware does only one thing but does it more convincingly or more efficiently than general purpose middleware.


title: Game engine

text: The four most widely used middleware packages that provide subsystems of functionality include RAD Game Tools' Bink, Firelight FMOD, Havok, and Scaleform GFx. RAD Game Tools develops Bink for basic video rendering, along with Miles audio, and Granny 3D rendering. Firelight FMOD is a low cost robust audio library and toolset. Havok provides a robust physics simulation system, along with a suite of animation and behavior applications. "Scaleform" provides GFx for high performance Flash UI and high-quality video playback, and an Input Method Editor (IME) add-on for in-game Asian chat support.


title: Game engine

text: Other middleware is used for performance optimisation - for example 'Simplygon' helps to optimise and generate level of detail meshes, and 'Umbra' adds occlusion culling optimisations to 3d graphics.


title: Game engine

text: Some middleware contains full source code, others just provide an API reference for a compiled binary library. Some middleware programs can be licensed either way, usually for a higher fee for full source code.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The Wrecking Crew was a loose collective of Los Angeles-based session musicians whose services were employed for a great number of studio recordings in the 1960s and 1970s, including hundreds of top 40 hits. The musicians were not publicly recognized in their era, but were viewed with reverence by industry insiders. They are now considered one of the most successful and prolific session recording units in music history.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Most of the players associated with the Wrecking Crew had formal backgrounds in jazz or classical music. The group had no official name in its active years, and it remains a subject of contention whether or not they were referred to as "the Wrecking Crew" at the time. Drummer Hal Blaine popularized the name in his 1990 memoir, attributing it to older musicians who felt that the group's embrace of rock and roll was going to "wreck" the music industry. Some of Blaine's colleagues corroborated his account, while guitarist/bassist Carol Kaye contended that they were called "the Clique". Another unofficial name was "the First Call Gang", sometimes used in the 1950s for an early version of the group headed by bassist Ray Pohlman which featured some of the same musicians.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The unit coalesced in the early 1960s as the de facto house band for Phil Spector and helped realize his Wall of Sound production style. They subsequently became the most requested session musicians in Los Angeles, playing behind many popular recording artists including Jan and Dean, Sonny & Cher, the Mamas and the Papas, the 5th Dimension, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Sinatra. The musicians were sometimes used as "ghost players" on recordings credited to rock groups, such as the Byrds' debut rendition of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" (1965), the first two albums by the Monkees, and the Beach Boys' 1966 album "Pet Sounds".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The Wrecking Crew's contributions to so many hit recordings went largely unnoticed until the publication of Blaine's memoir and the attention that followed. Keyboardist Leon Russell and guitarist Glen Campbell were members who became popular solo acts, while Blaine is reputed to have played on more than 140 top-ten hits, including approximately 40 number-one hits. Other musicians who formed the unit's ranks were drummer Earl Palmer, saxophonist Steve Douglas, guitarist Tommy Tedesco, and keyboardist Larry Knechtel, who became a member of Bread. Blaine and Palmer were among the inaugural "sidemen" inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and the entire Wrecking Crew was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007. In 2008, they were the subject of the documentary "The Wrecking Crew".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: In the era when the Wrecking Crew was in demand, session players were usually active in local recording scenes concentrated in places such as New York City, Nashville, Memphis, Detroit, and Muscle Shoals, as well as Los Angeles, the Wrecking Crew's base of operations.<ref name="Memphis/Nashville/Muscle Shoals">Source A: Source B: Source C: </ref> Each local scene had its circle of "A-list" session musicians, such as The Nashville A-Team that played on numerous country and rock hits of the era, the two groups of musicians in Memphis, the Memphis Boys and the musicians who backed Stax/Volt recordings, and the Funk Brothers in Detroit, who played on many Motown recordings.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: At the time, multi-tracking equipment, though common, was less elaborate, and instrumental backing tracks were often recorded "hot" with an ensemble playing live in the studio. Musicians had to be available "on call" when producers needed a part to fill a last-minute time slot. Los Angeles was then considered the top recording destination in the United States—consequently studios were constantly booked around the clock, and session time was highly sought after and expensive.<ref name="JazzWax (Byrds/studio expense)"></ref> Songs had to be recorded quickly in the fewest possible takes. In this environment, Los Angeles producers and record executives had little patience for needless expense or wasted time and depended on the service of reliable standby musicians who could be counted on to record in a variety of styles with minimal practice or takes, and deliver hits on short order.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The Wrecking Crew were the "go to" session musicians in Los Angeles during this era. Its members were musically versatile but typically had formal backgrounds in jazz or classical music, and were exceptional at sight reading. The talent of this group of "first call" players was used in almost every style of recording, including television theme songs, film scores, advertising jingles and many genres of American popular music from the Monkees to Bing Crosby. Several of the Los Angeles recording studios in which the Wrecking Crew regularly appeared were Gold Star Studios, United Western Recorders built by Bill Putnam, Capitol Records' studios located at their tower on Vine Street, Columbia Records' Los Angeles complex, and the RCA recording facility, which was located on Sunset Boulevard near Wallichs Music City, a music store that often supplied instruments for L.A. session players. Like all session musicians who worked in Los Angeles, the Wrecking Crew's members belonged to the American Federation of Musicians (AFM), Local 47, which represented their interests in areas such as pay scale and enforcement of regulations.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The name "Wrecking Crew" was popularized by drummer and member Hal Blaine in his 1990 memoir, "Hal Blaine and the Wrecking Crew". Though the unit did not have an official moniker during their years of activity, Blaine has stated that the term was sometimes used disparagingly in the early 1960s by members of the industry's old guard of "coat and tie" session players, who felt that, with their penchant for wearing "t-shirts and jeans" to sessions and their embrace of rock and roll, they were going to "wreck" the music industry. According to biographer Kent Hartman, "Some of the studio musicians I interviewed swear they heard it applied to themselves as early as 1963; others say it was later. One says it was never used at all". Blaine's memoirs, and the attention that followed, cast new light on the Wrecking Crew's role in many famous recordings.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Guitarist and bassist Carol Kaye has disputed Blaine's account of the name and stated, "We were never known as that. Sometimes we were called 'the Clique', but [the Wrecking Crew is] a Hal Blaine invented name for his own self-promotion in 1990 ..." Songfacts stated: "We couldn't find any references to 'The Wrecking Crew' in any publications from the era." In response to Kaye's contention, Blaine denied that anyone had ever heard the name "The Clique".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The beginnings of the group can be traced to session musicians of the late 1950s including Irv Cottler, Earl Palmer, Howard Roberts, Hal Blaine and a group headed by bassist and guitarist Ray Pohlman, sometimes referred to as the "First Call Gang". Earl Palmer was originally from New Orleans and had recorded with many of the Crescent City's rhythm and blues musicians, such as Fats Domino. He moved to Los Angeles in 1957, and in the 1960s played on hit records by artists such as Ike and Tina Turner, Glen Campbell, Jan and Dean, The Righteous Brothers, The Beach Boys, The Ronettes, The Everly Brothers, and Sonny & Cher. Pohlman was one of the first session musicians in Los Angeles to use an electric bass in recordings, and by the early 1960s became highly sought after in rock recordings, playing on many records by Jan and Dean and the Beach Boys.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: In 1962, Phil Spector started a new label, Philles Records, and recorded the song "He's a Rebel", which would be credited to The Crystals. He enlisted the aid of his high-school friend, saxophonist Steve Douglas, who was also working as a contractor in charge of recruiting musicians for recording sessions. Douglas helped him corral the backing unit, which included Pohlman, guitarists Roberts and Tommy Tedesco, pianist Al De Lory, upright bassist Jimmy Bond, and Hal Blaine on drums. They booked Studio A at Gold Star Studios, known for its deeply reverberant echo chambers, which became the preferred recording facility for Spector. The unit became an essential component in developing his "Wall of Sound" style, starting with "He's a Rebel" and a series of several more hits by The Crystals ("Da Doo Ron Ron" and "Then He Kissed Me") and other girl groups, such as The Ronettes ("Be My Baby" and "Baby, I Love You"). It was on these recordings that the Wrecking Crew emerged in their most recognizable form and became the most coveted session players in Los Angeles's thriving recording scene. With them, Spector went on to produce other records by The Righteous Brothers ("You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'", "Ebb Tide", and "Unchained Melody") and Ike and Tina Turner ("River Deep – Mountain High").


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: After Spector, the Wrecking Crew worked with dozens of producers, such as Brian Wilson, Terry Melcher, Lou Adler, Bones Howe, Jimmy Bowen, and Mike Post. As side players, they were teamed with artists as diverse as Jan & Dean, Bobby Vee, Nancy Sinatra, the Grass Roots, Simon & Garfunkel, Glen Campbell, the Partridge Family, David Cassidy (in his solo work), the Carpenters, John Denver and Nat King Cole.<ref name="Niesel (Scene/Artits/Crew)"></ref> During this heady period the unit worked long hours—15-hour days were not unusual—they were paid exceedingly well.<ref name="Jagger (Crew/15-hrs)"></ref> Carol Kaye commented, "I was making more money than the President".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys produced and co-wrote many of his band's most famous tracks and used the Wrecking Crew's talents extensively in the mid-1960s, including on songs such as "Help Me, Rhonda", "California Girls", and "Good Vibrations" as well as the albums "Pet Sounds" and "Smile".<ref name="Hartman (Beach Boys/Crew/Esquire)"></ref> Some reports falsely claim that the Wrecking Crew replaced the Beach Boys on record after their first few hits; however, this misconception derived from incomplete written documentation of the recording sessions. After audio documentation surfaced, it was revealed that the Beach Boys' first ten albums leading up to "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" were, by and large, self-contained efforts, and the band members played instruments on most of their singles and key album tracks. It was not until the 1965 album "The Beach Boys Today!" that Wrecking Crew musicians began to figure heavily on the band's studio recordings, an arrangement that lasted until 1967.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Members of the Wrecking Crew served as "ghost players" on the first single by the Byrds, "Mr. Tambourine Man", because Columbia Records—namely, producer Terry Melcher—did not feel that the group (except for Roger McGuinn, who played guitar on the single) were seasoned enough to deliver the kind of perfect take needed, particularly in light of the limited time and budget allocated to the newly signed and unproven group—on a label that was only just beginning to embrace rock.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Lou Adler was one of Los Angeles' top music executives and produced records by acts such as Jan and Dean and The Mamas & the Papas, which were often backed by the Wrecking Crew, as on "California Dreamin'" and "Monday, Monday". Bones Howe had worked as an engineer under Adler and used the Wrecking Crew when he produced hits by the Association (including "Windy", "Everything That Touches You", and "Never My Love") and the 5th Dimension (including "Up, Up and Away", "Stoned Soul Picnic", and "Aquarius").


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Sonny and Cher recorded several Wrecking Crew-backed hits including "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On", which were produced by Sonny Bono, who had previously worked as Phil Spector's aide. Many of Cher's solo records in the 1960s and early 1970s featured the backing of the Wrecking Crew, such as "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" produced by Snuff Garrett in 1971. Jimmy Bowen produced Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" in 1966 and Mike Post produced Mason Williams' 1968 hit "Classical Gas", both of which were backed by members of the Wrecking Crew.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Wrecking Crew members backed the Everly Brothers on their "The Hit Sound of the Everly Brothers" (1967) and "The Everly Brothers Sing" (1968) albums.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Rick Nelson used many Wrecking Crew members in various combinations, mostly during the mid-1960s, including Earl Palmer, Joe Osborn, James Burton, Tommy Tedesco, Howard Roberts, Billy Strange, Al Casey, Dennis Budimir, Glen Campbell, Don Randi, Mike Melvoin, Ray Pohlman, Chuck Berghofer, Victor Feldman, Frank Capp, and Jim Gordon.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Carol Kaye provided an exception to the predominantly male world of Los Angeles session work in the 1960s. Originally a guitarist, she began doing session work in Los Angeles in the late 1950s, playing behind Ritchie Valens on "La Bamba" and in the 1960s becoming a regular contributor on Phil Spector's recordings as well as on Beach Boys songs, such as "Help Me, Rhonda" and their subsequent "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" LPs. Ray Pohlman, who had assumed an early leadership position in the Wrecking Crew, became the musical director for the "Shindig!" TV show in 1965, resulting in reduced studio work from that point on. After Pohlman's move to television, Kaye increasingly concentrated on the electric bass, becoming one of the few female "first call" players on the L.A. scene. She supplied the signature bass line in Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On" released in 1967. Kaye was often teamed with Pohlman on pop music sessions (e.g. those for the Beach Boys) since it was a common practice at that time to reinforce the sound by "doubling" certain instruments like the bass, and producers and arrangers often recorded the bass parts with an acoustic and an electric bass playing together. Kaye would become known as one of the most prolific and widely heard bass guitarists, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning more than 50 years.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Joe Osborn played bass on numerous Wrecking Crew-backed songs, such as Glen Campbell's "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", The Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreamin'", Richard Harris' "MacArthur Park", and the 5th Dimension's "Up, Up and Away". Other notable electric bassists who played with the Wrecking Crew were Bill Pitman, Max Bennett, Red Callender, Chuck Rainey, and Bob West, as well as Jimmy Bond, Lyle Ritz, and Chuck Berghofer, who played acoustic upright bass.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Drummer Earl Palmer contributed to a handful of hits in the 1960s with the Wrecking Crew, including Phil Spector-produced tracks such as Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" in 1964, and Ike and Tina Turner's "River Deep – Mountain High" in 1966. Hal Blaine, with his abundance of musical skills, personality, and charisma, is also mentioned as having a prominent role in the Wrecking Crew's success during their heyday.<ref name="Miller (Blaine/Palmer)"></ref> Though he had played primarily big band and jazz, he took a job in Tommy Sands' rockabilly group in the late 1950s, discovering a newfound appreciation for rock and roll, which by the beginning of the new decade led to session work in Los Angeles studios, where he became acquainted with Earl Palmer and saxophonist Steve Douglas. Blaine played on Elvis Presley's 1961 hit "Can't Help Falling in Love". Shortly thereafter, he began playing on sessions for Phil Spector, quickly becoming the producer's preferred drummer, and, along with Earl Palmer, became one of the two top session drummers in Los Angeles. Blaine is reputed to have played on over 140 top ten hits including approximately 40 No. 1 hits, such as "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher, "Mr Tambourine Man" by the Byrds, and "Strangers in the Night" by Frank Sinatra, as well as numerous others and has been mentioned by Drummerworld as perhaps the most prolific recording drummer in history. Jim Gordon began as an understudy of Blaine, but with the passage of time emerged as a first call player in the Wrecking Crew, playing on parts of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" album and on hits such as "Classical Gas" and "Wichita Lineman".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Other drummers who played in the Wrecking Crew were Frank Capp, John Clauder, and Joe Porcaro. Gary Coleman played vibraphone and a variety of percussion instruments and contributed to works such as the soundtrack of the musical "Hair" and Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album. Some of the other Wrecking Crew percussionists were Julius Wechter, Milt Holland, Gene Estes, and Victor Feldman. Drummer Jim Keltner is sometimes mentioned in connection with the Wrecking Crew, because he befriended Hal Blaine in the 1960s and would later play with the Wrecking Crew on John Lennon's "Rock 'n' Roll" album recorded in 1973, but he is more often associated with the later generation of session players who eclipsed the Wrecking Crew in terms of popularity during the 1970s.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Guitarist and sometimes bassist Bill Pitman factored prominently in much of the Wrecking Crew's work. For a brief time in the late 1950s he provided guitar lessons for a young Phil Spector, before Spector formed the Teddy Bears, who went on to record the surprise hit "To Know Him Is to Love Him" in 1958. Pitman ended up playing on Spector-produced records in the 1960s such as "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes. He can be heard on numerous hits from the period such as "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" by Jan & Dean, and "Mr. Tambourine Man" by the Byrds. Tommy Tedesco, born in an Italian family in Niagara Falls, New York, was another one of the Wrecking Crew's most renowned guitarists, playing along with Pitman on "Be My Baby" and "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)", as well as on the Champs "Limbo Rock". He provided the flamenco-influenced guitar licks in the 5th Dimension's "Up and Away" as well as the guitar intro to the popular "M*A*S*H" theme. Billy Strange was one of the top guitarists with the Wrecking Crew and played on hits such as "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)" and the Beach Boys' version of "Sloop John B". In addition to playing sessions in Memphis, guitarist James Burton often recorded with the Wrecking Crew in Los Angeles in the 1960s.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Though Glen Campbell became better known as a highly successful country music artist in his own right, he played guitar in the Wrecking Crew during the 1960s and appeared along with them on several of the Beach Boys' classics of the period such as "I Get Around" and "Help Me Rhonda". He and Hal Blaine appeared as members of Steve McQueen's character's band in the film "Baby the Rain Must Fall" (1965) featuring an extremely clear moment of Campbell standing behind McQueen, but both Campbell and Blaine were uncredited in the film. In 1965 he toured with the Beach Boys, and in 1966 he and the Wrecking Crew played on the "Pet Sounds" album. Campbell enlisted the Wrecking Crew as a backup unit on many of his own solo records during the 1960s, such as on "Gentle on My Mind", and on two songs written by Jimmy Webb, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and his single "Wichita Lineman".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The Wrecking Crew's ranks included a circle of keyboardists who contributed piano and organ parts to many of the famous songs of the era. Larry Knechtel, later in Bread, was a multi-instrumentalist who played keyboards on "California Dreamin'", "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Classical Gas", as well as upright bass on "Eve of Destruction" and electric bass on Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man". Mike Melvoin, a classically trained pianist with an English degree from Dartmouth College, played organ and piano on many tracks on the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds", played organ on "Good Vibrations", and performed on keyboards on many of the sessions for the Beach Boys' never-completed "SMiLe" album. Don Randi contributed the piano part on Barry McGuire's 1965 hit "Eve of Destruction". Before becoming a solo artist, Leon Russell was a regular member of the Wrecking Crew and played in the Ronettes' "Be My Baby", and Jan & Dean's "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)". New Orleans' Mac Rebennack (later Dr. John) did session work with the Wrecking crew while living in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. Mike (Michel) Rubini was the son of Jan Rubini, a classical violinist, and initially played concert piano, but later became enamored with R&B and switched to playing popular music, eventually becoming a member of the Wrecking Crew and playing on hits such as Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On" and Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Saxophonist Steve Douglas, who attended Fairfax High School with Phil Spector in the 1950s, got a call in 1962 to play on Spector's debut recording as a producer, "He's a Rebel", and would, from then on, become a regular fixture with the Wrecking Crew. Years later, in 1978, Douglas played on Bob Dylan's 1978 "Street-Legal" album and accompanied Dylan on tour that year as part of his eight piece backing band. Jim Horn played both saxophone and flute, and contributed parts to numerous tracks with Wrecking Crew, such as in the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" and Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night". He played flute in the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations" and would later become a member of John Denver's backing band. Plas Johnson provided the saxophone line in "The Pink Panther Theme" in the Champs' 1962 instrumental version of "Limbo Rock". Nino Tempo, who along with his sister Carol (under her stage name April Stevens) had scored a U.S. number 1 hit song in 1963, "Deep Purple", was also a member of the Wrecking Crew and played saxophone in the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and later appeared on John Lennon's "Rock 'n' Roll" album.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Other saxophonists who played sessions with the Wrecking Crew were Jackie Kelso, Jay Migliori, Gene Cipriano, Bill Green, and Allan Beutler. On trombone were Richard "Slyde" Hyde, Lew McCreary, and Dick Nash and on trumpet Bud Brisbois, Roy Caton, Chuck Findley, Ollie Mitchell, and Tony Terran. Tommy Morgan played harmonica on Wrecking Crew-backed tracks such as "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)". When backing vocals were needed the Ron Hicklin Singers were called in.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Several members of the Wrecking Crew played in the house band for 1964's "T.A.M.I. Show", which was captured on film and sent to theaters around the country. Seen in camera shots showing the right-hand side of the stage are musical director Jack Nitzsche, Hal Blaine, Jimmy Bond, Tommy Tedesco, Bill Aken, Glen Campbell, Lyle Ritz, Leon Russell, Plas Johnson, among others, all providing incidental music and backing for many of acts such as Chuck Berry, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and Lesley Gore.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The Wrecking Crew's level of success could not be maintained indefinitely, and their services eventually fell out of demand. Kent Harman cites several factors in the Wrecking Crew's demise, beginning as far back as 1968 when the unit was at their peak of popularity: "By the middle of 1968, popular music was changing once again. In fact it was getting downright heavy. In the aftermath of the recent Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. slayings, the bloody Tet Offensive in Viet Nam, and the ever-growing level of campus unrest at universities around the country, Top 40 radio gradually began to lose step with the times". Hartman mentions that the runaway success that year of Richard Harris' elaborate seven-minute epic hit, "MacArthur Park", written by Jimmy Webb and featuring the Wrecking Crew's intricate backing, might have been another seed in their eventual decline:


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The Wrecking Crew remained in demand in the early 1970s, even enjoying several hits, but by the end of 1973 they began to experience a downturn in bookings, as a series of changes in the recording industry began to take hold. Unlike earlier bands/artists such as the Monkees, the Grass Roots, The Partridge Family and David Cassidy that often utilized the Wrecking Crew for backing tracks (and as a backing band for Cassidy's earliest concert tours of America in 1971/2), rock groups in the early to mid 1970s began to stipulate in their recording contracts that they be allowed to play their own instruments on records. Younger session players such as Larry Carlton, Andrew Gold, Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Russ Kunkel, Jeff Porcaro, Leland Sklar, and Jim Keltner had a more contemporary sound, better-suited to the changing musical tastes of the decade. By the mid-1970s, technological advances such as 16-track and 24-track tape recording machines and automated large-format multi-channel consoles made it viable for instruments to be recorded, often close-miked, onto separate tracks individually, reducing the need to hire ensembles to play live in the studio.<ref name="Rumsey/McCromick (70s record. auto.)"></ref> Synthesizers could approximate the sound of practically any instrument. Eventually, drum machines would become the norm, which could be specially programmed to keep beats in place of a drummer or be used for click tracks played in musicians' headphones, making it easier to overdub or re-record any part in-synch and achieve a more uniform and consistent tempo.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: In 1969, after scoring hits as a solo artist such as "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman", Glen Campbell left the Wrecking Crew. Carol Kaye, exhausted from the constant pressure of the L.A. recording scene, went on to other musical endeavors. According to guitarist Bill Pitman, "You leave the house at seven o'clock in the morning, and you're at Universal at nine till noon; now you're at Capitol Records at one, you just got time to get there, then you got a jingle at four, then we're on a date with somebody at eight, then the Beach Boys at midnight, and you do that five days a week ... jeez, man, you get burned out". Campbell went on to become one of country music's most popular performers during the 1970s with hits such as "Rhinestone Cowboy" and the Allen Toussaint-penned "Southern Nights".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: By the mid-1970s many of the Wrecking Crew's members scattered and drifted into different spheres. Some members, such as Carol Kaye, Tony Terran, Gary Coleman, Earl Palmer and Tommy Tedesco, switched to television and motion picture soundtrack work. Leon Russell and Mac Rebennack (as Dr. John) both went on to become successful solo artists and songwriters, enjoying hit singles and albums during the 1970s. Jim Keltner went on to a successful career as a session drummer for much of the 1970s–90s; he played in Ringo Starr's All-Starr band and was the drummer on both albums by the supergroup Traveling Wilburys, where he is credited as "Buster Sidebury". Beginning in 1973 he hosted a regular weekly jam session at Los Angeles clubs called "the Jim Keltner Fan Club" frequented by many of the younger L.A. session musicians of the time (Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel, Waddy Wachtel, Leland Sklar, and Jeff and Steve Porcaro).


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The unit did a brief, but ill-fated reunion session with Phil Spector in 1992. In 2001, members of The Wrecking Crew reunited in the studio with David Cassidy to recreate Cassidy's hit songs from the 1970s, both solo and with The Partridge Family. These recordings resulted in the album "Then and Now" which was hugely successful internationally and went platinum in 2002. More recently, they backed Glen Campbell in his song "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" taken from the soundtrack of the 2015 documentary "".<ref name="Ayers (Campbell/Crew)"></ref>


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: The Wrecking Crew backed dozens of popular acts and were one of the most successful groups of studio musicians in music history. According to Kent Hartman, "... if a rock-and-roll song came out of an L.A. recording studio from between about 1962 and 1972, the odds are good that some combination of the Wrecking Crew played the instruments. No single group of musicians has ever played on more hits in support of more stars than this superbly talented—yet virtually anonymous group of men (and one woman)". According to "The New Yorker", "The Wrecking Crew passed into a history that it largely created, imperfectly acknowledged but perfectly present in hundreds of American pop songs known to all". In 2008, the Wrecking Crew were featured in the documentary film "The Wrecking Crew", directed by Tommy Tedesco's son, Denny Tedesco. In 2014, its musicians were depicted in the Brian Wilson biopic "Love & Mercy".


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Two of their members, drummers Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer, were among the inaugural "sidemen" inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and the entire Wrecking Crew was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2010, Blaine was elected into the "Modern Drummer" Hall of Fame.


title: The Wrecking Crew (music)

text: Max Weinberg in his book "The Big Beat" does include Bono in a list of members of the Wrecking Crew as "percussion" and Bono appears in the photograph labeled, "The Wrecking Crew" on p. 79 of the book.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: A radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG), sometimes referred to as a radioisotope power system (RPS), is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect. This type of generator has no moving parts.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: RTGs have been used as power sources in satellites, space probes, and uncrewed remote facilities such as a series of lighthouses built by the Soviet Union inside the Arctic Circle. RTGs are usually the most desirable power source for unmaintained situations that need a few hundred watts (or less) of power for durations too long for fuel cells, batteries, or generators to provide economically, and in places where solar cells are not practical. Safe use of RTGs requires containment of the radioisotopes long after the productive life of the unit. The expense of RTGs tends to limit their use to niche applications in rare or special situations. Because they don't have moving parts or need solar energy, RTGs are ideal for remote and harsh environments for extended periods of time. Because RTGs have no moving parts, there is no risk of parts wearing out or malfunctioning.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: The RTG was invented in 1954 by Mound Laboratories scientists Ken Jordan and John Birden. They were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2013. Jordan and Birden worked on an Army Signal Corps contract (R-65-8- 998 11-SC-03-91) beginning on 1 January 1957, to conduct research on radioactive materials and thermocouples suitable for the direct conversion of heat to electrical energy using polonium-210 as the heat source. RTGs were developed in the US during the late 1950s by Mound Laboratories in Miamisburg, Ohio, under contract with the United States Atomic Energy Commission. The project was led by Dr. Bertram C. Blanke.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: The first RTG launched into space by the United States was SNAP 3B in 1961 powered by 96 grams of plutonium-238 metal, aboard the Navy Transit 4A spacecraft. One of the first terrestrial uses of RTGs was in 1966 by the US Navy at uninhabited Fairway Rock in Alaska. RTGs were used at that site until 1995.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: A common RTG application is spacecraft power supply. Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power (SNAP) units were used for probes that traveled far from the Sun rendering solar panels impractical. As such, they were used with "Pioneer 10", "Pioneer 11", "Voyager 1", "Voyager 2", "Galileo", "Ulysses", "Cassini", "New Horizons", and the Mars Science Laboratory. RTGs were used to power the two Viking landers and for the scientific experiments left on the Moon by the crews of Apollo 12 through 17 (SNAP 27s). Because the Apollo 13 Moon landing was aborted, its RTG rests in the South Pacific Ocean, in the vicinity of the Tonga Trench. RTGs were also used for the Nimbus, Transit and LES satellites. By comparison, only a few space vehicles have been launched using full-fledged nuclear reactors: the Soviet RORSAT series and the American SNAP-10A.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: In addition to spacecraft, the Soviet Union built 1007 RTGs to power uncrewed lighthouses and navigation beacons on the Soviet arctic coast by the late 1980s. Many different types of RTGs (including Beta-M type) were built in the Soviet Union for a wide variety of purposes. The lighthouses were not maintained for many years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Some of the RTG units disappeared during this time—either by looting or by the natural forces of ice/storm/sea. In 1996, a project was begun by Russian and international supporters to decommission the RTGs in the lighthouses, and by 2021, all RTGs are now removed.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: As of 1992, the United States Air Force also used RTGs to power remotely-located Arctic equipment, and the US government has used hundreds of such units to power remote stations globally. Sensing stations for Top-ROCC and SEEK IGLOO radar systems, predominantly located in Alaska, use RTGs. The units use strontium-90, and a larger number of such units have been deployed both on the ground and on the ocean floor than have been used on spacecraft, with public regulatory documents suggesting that the US had deployed at least 100–150 during the 1970s and 1980s.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: In the past, small "plutonium cells" (very small Pu-powered RTGs) were used in implanted heart pacemakers to ensure a very long "battery life". , about ninety were still in use. By the end of 2007, the number was reported to be down to just nine. The Mound Laboratory Cardiac Pacemaker program began on 1 June 1966, in conjunction with NUMEC. When it was recognized that the heat source would not remain intact during cremation, the program was cancelled in 1972 because there was no way to completely ensure that the units would not be cremated with their users' bodies.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: The design of an RTG is simple by the standards of nuclear technology: the main component is a sturdy container of a radioactive material (the fuel). Thermocouples are placed in the walls of the container, with the outer end of each thermocouple connected to a heat sink. Radioactive decay of the fuel produces heat. It is the temperature difference between the fuel and the heat sink that allows the thermocouples to generate electricity.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: A thermocouple is a thermoelectric device that can convert thermal energy directly into electrical energy using the Seebeck effect. It is made of two kinds of metal or semiconductor material. If they are connected to each other in a closed loop and the two junctions are at different temperatures, an electric current will flow in the loop. Typically a large number of thermocouples are connected in series to generate a higher voltage.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: The first two criteria limit the number of possible fuels to fewer than thirty atomic isotopes within the entire table of nuclides.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Plutonium-238, curium-244, strontium-90, and nowadays americium-241 are the most often cited candidate isotopes, but 43 more isotopes out of approximately 1300 were considered at the beginning in the 1950s.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: The table below does not necessarily give power densities for the pure material but for a chemically inert form. For actinides this is of little concern as their oxides are usually inert enough (and can be transformed into ceramics further increasing their stability), but for alkali metals and alkaline earth metals like caesium or strontium respectively, relatively complex (and heavy) chemical compounds have to be used. For example, strontium is commonly used as strontium titanate in RTGs, which increases molar mass by about a factor of 2. Furthermore, depending on the source, isotopic purity may not be obtainable. Plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel has a low share of Pu-238, so plutonium-238 for use in RTGs is usually purpose-made by neutron irradiation of neptunium-237, further raising costs. Caesium in fission products is almost equal parts Cs-135 and Cs-137, plus significant amounts of stable Cs-133 and—in "young" spent fuel—short lived Cs-134. If isotope separation, a costly and time-consuming process, is to be avoided, this has to be factored in, too. While historically RTGs have been rather small, there is in theory nothing preventing RTGs from reaching into the Megawatt range of power. However, for such applications actinides are less suitable than lighter radioisotopes as the critical mass is orders of magnitude below the mass needed to produce such amounts of power. As Sr-90, Cs-137 and other lighter radionuclides "cannot" maintain a nuclear chain reaction under any circumstances, RTGs of arbitrary size and power could be assembled from them if enough material can be produced. In general, however, potential applications for such large-scale RTGs are more the domain of small modular reactors, microreactors or non-nuclear power sources.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: and exceptionally low gamma and neutron radiation levels. Pu has the lowest shielding requirements. Only three candidate isotopes meet the last criterion (not all are listed above) and need less than 25 mm of lead shielding to block the radiation. Pu (the best of these three) needs less than 2.5 mm, and in many cases, no shielding is needed in a Pu RTG, as the casing itself is adequate.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: However, plutonium(IV) oxide containing a natural abundance of oxygen emits neutrons at the rate of ~2.3x10 n/sec/g of plutonium-238. This emission rate is relatively high compared to the neutron emission rate of plutonium-238 metal. The metal containing no light element impurities emits ~2.8x10 n/sec/g of plutonium-238. These neutrons are produced by the spontaneous fission of plutonium-238.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: The difference in the emission rates of the metal and the oxide is due mainly to the alpha, neutron reaction with the oxygen-18 and oxygen-17 present in the oxide. The normal amount of oxygen-18 present in the natural form is 0.204% while that of oxygen-17 is 0.037%. The reduction of the oxygen-17 and oxygen-18 present in the plutonium dioxide will result in a much lower neutron emission rate for the oxide; this can be accomplished by a gas phase O exchange method. Regular production batches of PuO particles precipitated as a hydroxide were used to show that large production batches could be effectively O-exchanged on a routine basis. High-fired PuO microspheres were successfully O-exchanged showing that an exchange will take place regardless of the previous heat treatment history of the PuO.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: This lowering of the neutron emission rate of PuO containing normal oxygen by a factor of five was discovered during the cardiac pacemaker research at Mound Laboratory in 1966, due in part to the Mound Laboratory's experience with production of stable isotopes beginning in 1960. For production of the large heat sources the shielding required would have been prohibitive without this process.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Unlike the other three isotopes discussed in this section, Pu must be specifically synthesized and is not abundant as a nuclear waste product. At present only Russia has maintained high-volume production, while in the US, no more than were produced in total between 2013 and 2018. The US agencies involved desire to begin the production of the material at a rate of per year. If this plan is funded, the goal would be to set up automation and scale-up processes in order to produce an average of per year by 2025.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Strontium-90 has been used by the Soviet Union in terrestrial RTGs. Sr decays by β emission, with minor γ emission. While its half life of 28.8 years is much shorter than that of Pu, it also has a lower decay energy with a power density of 0.46 watts per gram. Because the energy output is lower it reaches lower temperatures than Pu, which results in lower RTG efficiency. Sr has a high fission product yield in the fission of both and and is thus available in large quantities at a relatively low price if extracted from spent nuclear fuel.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: As is a very reactive alkaline earth metal and a so-called "bone seeker" that accumulates in bone-tissue due to its chemical similarity to calcium (once in the bones it can significantly damage the bone marrow, a rapidly dividing tissue), it is usually not employed in pure form in RTGs. The most common form is the perovskite Strontium titanate (SrTiO) which is chemically nigh-inert and has a high melting point. While its Mohs hardness of 5.5 has made it ill-suited as a diamond simulant, it is of sufficient hardness to withstand some forms of accidental release from its shielding without too fine dispersal of dust. The downside to using SrTiO instead of the native metal is that its production requires energy. It also reduces power density, as the TiO part of the material does not produce any decay heat. Starting from the oxide or the native metal, one pathway to obtaining SrTiO is to let it transform to Strontium hydroxide in aqueous solution, which absorbs carbon dioxide from air to become less soluble strontium carbonate. Reaction of strontium carbonate with titanium dioxide at high temperature produces the desired strontium titanate plus carbon dioxide. If desired, the strontium titanate product can then be formed into a ceramic-like aggregate via sintering.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Some prototype RTGs, first built in 1958 by the US Atomic Energy Commission, have used polonium-210. This isotope provides phenomenal power density (pure Po emits 140 W/g) because of its high decay rate, but has limited use because of its very short half-life of 138 days. A half-gram sample of Po reaches temperatures of over . As Po-210 is a pure alpha-emitter and does not emit significant gamma or X-ray radiation, the shielding requirements are also low as for Pu-238. While the short half-life also reduces the time during which accidental release to the environment is a concern, Polonium-210 is extremely radiotoxic if ingested and can cause significant harm even in chemically inert forms, which pass through the digestive tract as a "foreign object". A common route of production (whether accidental or deliberate) is neutron irradiation of , the only naturally occurring isotope of Bismuth. It is this accidental production that is cited as an argument against the use of lead-bismuth eutectic as a coolant in liquid metal reactors. However, if a sufficient demand for Polonium-210 exists, its extraction could be worthwhile similar to how tritium is economically recovered from the heavy water moderator in CANDUs.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Americium-241 is a candidate isotope with much greater availability than Pu. Although Am has a half-life of 432 years which is more than Pu and could hypothetically power a device for centuries, missions with more than 10 years are not subject of the research until 2019. The power density of Am is only 1/4 that of Pu, and Am produces more penetrating radiation through decay chain products than Pu and needs more shielding. Its shielding requirements in a RTG are the third lowest: only Pu and Po require less. With a current global shortage of Pu, Am is being studied as RTG fuel by ESA and in 2019, UK's National Nuclear Laboratory announced the generation of usable electricity. An advantage over Pu is that it is produced as nuclear waste and is nearly isotopically pure. Prototype designs of Am RTGs expect 2-2.2 W/kg for 5–50 W RTGs design but practical testing shows that only 1.3-1.9 W can be achieved.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Americium-241 is currently used in small quantities in household smoke detectors and thus its handling and properties are precedented. However, it decays to Neptunium-237 the most chemically mobile among the Actinides.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Curium-250 is the smallest transuranic isotope that primarily decays by spontaneous fission, a process that releases many times more energy than alpha decay. Compared to Plutonium-238, Curium-250 provides about a quarter of the power density, but 100 times the half-life (~87 vs ~9000). As it is a neutron emitter (weaker than Californium-252 but not entirely negligible) some applications require a further shielding against neutron radiation. As lead, which is an excellent shielding material against gamma rays and beta ray induced Bremsstrahlung, is not a good neutron shield (instead reflecting most of them), a different shielding material would have to be added in applications where neutrons are a concern.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: Most RTGs use Pu, which decays with a half-life of 87.7 years. RTGs using this material will therefore diminish in power output by a factor of 1 – (1/2), which is 0.787%, per year.


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: One example is the MHW-RTG used by the Voyager probes. In the year 2000, 23 years after production, the radioactive material inside the RTG had decreased in power by 16.6%, i.e. providing 83.4% of its initial output; starting with a capacity of 470 W, after this length of time it would have a capacity of only 392 W. A related loss of power in the Voyager RTGs is the degrading properties of the bi-metallic thermocouples used to convert thermal energy into electrical energy; the RTGs were working at about 67% of their total original capacity instead of the expected 83.4%. By the beginning of 2001, the power generated by the Voyager RTGs had dropped to 315 W for "Voyager 1" and to 319 W for "Voyager 2".


title: Radioisotope thermoelectric generator

text: NASA has developed a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG) in which the thermocouples would be made of skutterudite, a cobalt arsenide (CoAs), which can function with a smaller temperature difference than the current tellurium-based designs. This would mean that an otherwise similar RTG would generate 25% more power at the beginning of a mission and at least 50% more after seventeen years. NASA hopes to use the design on the next New Frontiers mission.