nuclear-news

Nuclear power for space research (another ploy to keep nuclear industry alive?)

Nuclear or Solar, Where Does the Future of Space Exploration Lie? Oil Price.com , James Burgess, 24 November 2011  “………The major problem that NASA faces when pursuing this form of technology is that, as Dr. John M. Logsdon, a space expert at George Washington University, said “It’s really only possible with plutonium-238 to do what it’s intending to do,” and the United States stopped making Plutonium-238 in the 1980’s. Since then they have bought it from Russia, but now they no longer make it either. A 2009 report by the National Academy of Sciences called for restarting production, but this has not been done, mostly for cost reasons….
Therefore, solar cells have always been used where possible. Steven W. Squyres, a professor of astronomy at Cornell who is the chief scientist behind the Opportunity and Spirit rovers, said: “You always use solar when you can; it’s simpler, cheaper, just easier to do. You only use nuclear when you have to.’’ This thought was obviously prevalent when NASA launched their Jupiter-bound, Juno space shuttle, as that too relies upon solar cells….”
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Nuclear-or-Solar-Where-Does-the-Future-of-Space-Exploration-Lie.html

November 27, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | - plutonium, technology, USA