(Nuclear) Fuel for deep space exploration running on empty

[Tab]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON – NASA is running out of nuclear fuel needed for its deep space exploration.

The end of the Cold War's nuclear weapons buildup means that the U.S. space agency does not have enough plutonium for future faraway space probes — except for a few missions already scheduled — according to a new study released Thursday by the National Academy of Sciences.

Deep space probes beyond Jupiter can't use solar power because they're too far from the sun. So they rely on a certain type of plutonium, plutonium-238. It powers these spacecraft with the heat of its natural decay. But plutonium-238 isn't found in nature; it's a byproduct of nuclear weaponry.

The United States stopped making it about 20 years ago and NASA has been relying on the Russians. But now the Russian supply is running dry because they stopped making it, too.

The Department of Energy announced on Thursday that it will restart its program to make plutonium-238. Spokeswoman Jen Stutsman said the agency has proposed $30 million in next year's budget for preliminary design and engineering. The National Academy's study shows why it is needed, she said.

"If you don't have this material, we're just not going to do" deep space missions, said Johns Hopkins University senior scientist Ralph McNutt, who has had experiments aboard several of NASA's deep space missions.
...
By law, only the Department of Energy can make the plutonium. Last year then-NASA administrator Michael Griffin wrote to then-Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman saying the agency needed more plutonium.

The National Academy report says it would cost the Energy Department at least $150 million to resume making it for the 11 pounds a year that NASA needs for its space probes.

Without that material "a lot of things will be shut down and they will stay shut down for a long time," McNutt said.

Upcoming NASA missions using plutonium include the overbudget and delayed Mars Science Laboratory, set to launch in 2011, and a mission to tour the solar system's outer planets scheduled for launch in 2020.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090507/ap_on_sc/us_sci_nasa_plutonium

[Bill McBlueState]

1. $150 million

is pretty cheap compared to a lot of the things we spend our money on.

[high density]

2. Sounds like they need to come up with a new power source. NM

[Tab]

3. Like what?

There aren't too many choices for things that are capable of powering for deep space exploration (we're talking hundreds of millions of miles) that are also lightweight. Look at what we go through just to get to the moon, and the moon's effectively next door to us - some of these other things take years or decades to get to.

[Javaman]

10. I had read on NASA.com that they are using Ion drives in some of their sats now. nt

[Posteritatis]

11. Those would be propulsion rather than power generation (nt)

[Javaman]

20. Thanks for the info :) cheers. nt

[Soylent Brice]

24. they sure do.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/RT/2005/RP/RPP-oleson.html

[zipplewrath]

21. Wow

I never thought I'd see plutonium described as "light weight". But I know what you mean. But more to the original posters point, I'm sure they've been trying to come up with something else for decades. But until someone figures out how to use anti-matter, or maybe "cold fusion", there aren't going to be alot of choices. Oh, and when they do figure it out, we may have solved the whole fossil fuel problem in this world.

[Posteritatis]

26. Light-weight would fit if you didn't need much of it

A few pounds of it in an RTG would be a lot easier to deal with than, say, several solar panels and the structure to support/protect them. (Solar panels would also be useless in the outer system.)

[high density]

23. I don't know. That's for NASA to figure out. NM

[JVS]

30. Clean Space Coal!

[Phoonzang]

4. I just read this and came to DU to see the squawking....

"Nuclear!!???" *wild knee jerking*

[Posteritatis]

5. There was a guest speaker at my university a few years ago...

One of the big anti-spaceflight types. He was actually ranting about how RTGs and the like would blight the pristine environment of space by exposing it to lethal radiation.

[Phoonzang]

7. Wow.....that's hilarious.

Wouldn't want to pollute space with radiation.

[neverforget]

12. oh god!

[Canuckistanian]

35. LOL

The utter absurdity of that statement just makes me laugh.

[Dogmudgeon]

6. Here, have some of mine

:popcorn:

Of course, if you want a REAL show, you have to go to the Energy/Environment forum.

--d!

[Phoonzang]

8. Yum..thanks! nt

[Javaman]

9. Haven't they started using Ion drives in some of their satellites? nt

[MicaelS]

13. That's a PROPULSION system, not a powerplant

What does the ion engine run off of genius?

[Dogmudgeon]

14. Hey, come on, that's mean

A lot of people don't know how these space propulsion systems work because they only hear about them described in the most general and hand-waving of terms.

Now, with people who post just plain dumb-ass crap -- like "why can't we run a solar panel off of lights attached to the output of that panel? -- who also are outraged ranters -- that's another story.

--d!

[Posteritatis]

17. Someday I hope the rest of us are as obviously infallible as you

Jackass.

[Javaman]

18. hey, you know what?

I would appreciate a reply without the insult.

I guess you never developed tact.

you are now blocked for your rudeness.

[tomm2thumbs]

15. (picturing Clinton at Iran's door with an empty cup) 'Got Any Sugar?'

'I'm right in the middle of baking a yellowcake and need a little more'

<g>

[winyanstaz]

16. That money could house a lot of people, feed a lot of children...

create a few jobs....maybe we need to stay home on Planet Earth and get it right here FIRST before we go on polluting the universe.
If any other planet sees us coming they need to blow us out of the sky before we trash their planet the way we have trashed this one.

[Posteritatis]

19. Zero-summers are funny

A lot of you guys probably think weather and telecommunications satellites are evil too.

[Hugin]

22. Eh, this is just ex-Lehman bankers trying to drum up a market for their Yellow-cake.

Which they should have never been allowed to buy on speculation in the first place.

[Dogmudgeon]

25. Remember the conspiracy story about PROJECT LUCIFER?

The story was that the Cassini-Huygens probe wasn't just nuclear-powered -- the nuclear fuel itself was going to be used to ignite a thermonuclear reaction to turn Saturn into a star.

http://www.optcorp.com/edu/articleDetailEDU.aspx?aid=32">Ian O'Neill article reprinted at OptCorp

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/ciencia_luciferproject.htm">Lucifer Project at Biblioteca Pleyades (some Spanish, but mostly in English)

http://cyberspaceorbit.com/saturn/lpnew.htm">Non est ad astra mollis e terries via. — There is no easy way from the earth to the stars. Quote by Seneca, story by Cyberspace Orbit

http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/19563/lucifer_project_2_remix__rise_of_the_light_bearer_/">Rise of the Light Bearer -- Lucifer Rising A somewhat entertaining video with "Black Hole Sun" as the soundtrack

http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=cassini+lucifer+project&btnG=Search">Google search for those who want more

From the Read and Weep Department:

Here's a http://www.space4peace.org/index.htm">group fighting space nukes complete with a Grim Reaper cartoon poster. They also claim that http://www.space4peace.org/articles/pollution/menu.htm">rocket fuel is poisoning our food supply.

Who says that Conservative wingnuts are the only scientific illiterates?

--d!

[DainBramaged]

27. Star Trek starts today, can't they get ideas from the new movie????

:+

[Bankhead_ATL]

28. dilithium crystal??????

[pam4water]

29. Lets go borrow some from Pakistani. You know in exchange for our $10 B in "aid".

[bemildred]

31. Maybe we could salvage a bit from all the bombs?

I mean we have a heck of a lot tied up in bombs, and we never seem to use them.

[geomon666]

32. That's what I'm saying. Let's take apart some of these missles.

Literally thousands of these fucking things sitting in the ground. Let's put em to good use.

[bemildred]

33. Sitting in the ground decaying, costing boatloads of money to protect and maintain.

It's not just stupid, it's criminal, when children are going hungry, and a little bit of that money would feed them.

[Crowman1979]

34. Absolutely! We need to concentrate on space exploration instead of war.

Otherwise well mine the planet to death of minerals. Why do that when we could find ways to extract minerals from asteroids?