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Without Plutonium, Deep-Space Probe Missions May Sputter Out
cold fjord writes with this excerpt from Wired: "Most of what humanity knows about the outer planets came back to Earth on plutonium power. ... The characteristics of this metal's radioactive decay make it a super-fuel. ... there is no other viable option. Solar power is too weak, chemical batteries don't last, nuclear fission systems are too heavy. So, we depend on plutonium-238, a fuel largely acquired as by-product of making nuclear weapons. But there's a problem: We've almost run out. 'We've got enough to last to the end of this decade. That's it,' said Steve Johnson, a nuclear chemist at Idaho National Laboratory. And it's not just the U.S. reserves that are in jeopardy. The entire planet's stores are nearly depleted. ... what's left has already been spoken for and then some. ... Political ignorance and shortsighted squabbling, along with false promises from Russia, and penny-wise management of NASA's ever-thinning budget still stand in the way of a robust plutonium-238 production system." The plutonium shortage has been deepening for a long time, leading to some creative solutions. The Wired article alludes to the NASA project underway to create more, but leans toward gloom.
I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 2014, it's a little hard to come by.
Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats. -HLM
We could have mined plutonium on Pluto, but they went and demoted it to a dwarf planet.
Yes, lifting facilities like Three Mile Island and Chernobyl off the ground takes a bit of effort
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
Apparently Philo gives the secret of how to make plutonium from common household objects.
But the zombie apocalypse is still ok, right?
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Mass doesn't disappear just because something is in outer space. That mass carries with it a certain amount of inertia, and the heavier something is on earth, the more energy will be required to manipulate it with any kind of acceleration, even in space.
Avast, ye swab, once ye space corsair be a'sail in deep space, it be carried along on it's momentum as thar be little friction in a vacuum. Life support, unless ye enjoy sippin yer tea at 4 K, be yer greater concern. Also, ye be needin' a wee bit o' energy for changin the tack of yer corsair. Arr. ox)P-)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
By 2005, according a Department of Energy report (.pdf), the U.S. government owned 87 pounds, of which roughly two-thirds was designated for national security projects, likely to power deep-sea espionage hardware.
What on earth do they need deep sea espionage for? Are they trying to spy on Cthulhu or something?
Wrong Plutonium! We need US Plutonium which uses a different plug configuration and is only 120V, not that funny 204V stuff you use in the UK you insensitive clod! Shit, NASA would have to buy like one of those travel adapters or something to make UK plutonium work in NASA probes and that would probably like throw off the gyroscopes or something.
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
>it's
Land-lubber.
Twasn't an apostrophe, ye dog. It be the stray mark of a sharp cutlass.
What part of `yes no` don't you understand?
If we start filtering that water over by their nukes, we can create a number of batteries that can provide power for mars and the moon.
Except we don't want our first probe to make contact with an alien civilization to be powered by radioactive sea bass. There's just no good explanation for that.
Exactly!
Don't Pollute Space With Radiation!
I drank what? -- Socrates
OMG we're contaminating space with radiation! Think of the space ponies and the lunar ecology.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'