Posted on 03/23/2018 5:16:58 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Citing progress in producing plutonium-238, NASA will allow scientists proposing missions for an upcoming planetary science competition to use nuclear power sources.
In a statement issued March 17, Jim Green, director of NASA's planetary science division, said the agency was reversing an earlier decision prohibiting the use of radioisotope power systems for spacecraft proposed for the next mission in the agency's Discovery program.
A "long-range planning information" announcement about plans for the competition, issued Dec. 12, said that the use of such power systems would not be allowed, although missions could use radioisotope heater units, which use a very small amount of plutonium to keep spacecraft elements warm.
NASA made that decision based on projected use of existing stocks of plutonium-238 for upcoming missions, such as the Mars 2020 rover. Dragonfly, one of the two finalists for the next New Frontiers medium-class planetary science mission, also plans to use a radioisotope power system, as well as potential future missions the moon that require nuclear power to operate through the two-week lunar night.
...
The decision to allow the use of radioisotope power systems on Discovery was just one piece of good news at a rather upbeat town hall meeting about NASA's planetary science program.
"Overall, planetary science is doing incredibly well," Green said, citing the progress on a number of missions as well as the agency's proposed 2019 budget, which offers $2.2 billion for planetary science. "This is spectacular. Planetary science has never had this high a budget."
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Green noted that, in past years, planetary science has suffered significant budget cuts at the expense of other parts of NASA. "Many of us lived through some really austere times," he said. "It's now our time in the sun to shine."
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Not going to go very far if you don’t.
How does this contribute to peace?
(leftist viewpoint)
Gee. We used to call them RTGs. Seems they always bring out the fence climbers when someone announces using one.
Yeah.
Great idea.
Let’s shoot a rocket with a nuke on it at Mars.
Next thing you know, Martians blowing fog horns and riding around in big, three legged metal stools grabbing people with Tom Cruise looking perplexed.
No thank you.
U238 in short supply? Ask Iran or the Norks.
Two plus decades ago, a friend and co-worker were at his farmette on a weekend afternoon and he was showing me interesting stuff he had in his barn including a few 50’s and 60’s sports cars in various stages of disassembly and then he pulled out this steam punk looking hemisphere a little larger than half a bowling ball made of a dullish grey metal. It must have weighed 50 pounds and he told me to guess what it was. I was stymied and he told me that he took it from work as a souvenir. He worked for Martin Aerospace in the 50’s and the piece was half of a shield for the plutonium power plant that was used in our first satellites. Nothing new under the sun.
It’s completely ridiculous that this was ever even in question.
The mission to Titan could have been a much better one with the Plutonium power source. All those years wasted on a lesser mission. Shame.
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