[Yossarian]

Envirowhackos might not be the only ones questioning nuclear power for the probe. I just got done reading a space.com article, and it mentions how the choice of power source can affect the "go/no-go" areas for the probe.

Apparently the mission planners are telling the scientists that a nuke-powered rover will not be allowed to go to any potential water source, like a gulch! It is an issue of (Mars) planetary protection:

1. If there were to be a malfunction with the probe, it would be stuck there for a long, long time;
2. If the power source on the probe is nuclear, it could be a source of warmth for a long, long time;
3. Probes must be assumed to have some non-zero amount of earth microbes that somehow snuck aboard to make it alive to Mars;
4. Water, heat, microbes and time add together to form even more microbes (or Godzilla), and that's a contamination issue. While I think this is more of a "science contamination" issue than a "bad for Mars" contamination issue, that's still the concern.

[east1234]

Aren't we planing on putting man there by mid-century? I suspect we'll be leaving a few microbes bahind then. And beer cans, cigarette butts, twinkee wrappers.......