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The US doesn't even produce any plutonium anymore and NASA has to buy fuel from Russia and then deal with protestors when they try and test power plants that wo

The US doesn't even produce any plutonium anymore and NASA has to buy fuel from Russia and then deal with protestors when they try and test power plants that would be able to last long enough and be durable enough to get us to Mars. Activists have halted much of the worlds energy research.

pavel_lishin 9y ago
Penguins have a gland above their eyes that allows them to process saltwater into freshwater.
gene-h 9y ago
The US does in fact produce plutonium 238 now, not much but production is being scaled up[0]. From what I understand, most of the issues with developing new nuclear power sources stem from funding shortages. NASA canceled their Prometheus nuclear reactor program, which was to provide hundreds of kilowatts of power for a Europa orbiter, because the Constellation program needed more money. Most recently, NASA canceled the Advanced Stirling Radioisotopic Generator because development costs had risen more than expected[1]. Although there might be some encouraging results soon, NASA is supposed to be finishing testing of the new Kilopower nuclear reactor at the Nevada test site soon.[2] Next step after this breadboard test is building an integrated system. If they can get to that point, they will have solved much of NASA's problems with plutonium. A nuclear reactor can use uranium fuel which is much simpler to procure than Pu-238. [0]https://www.space.com/36217-plutonium-238-nuclear-spacecraft-fuel-production.html https://www.space.com/36217-plutonium-238-nuclear-spacecraft... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Stirling_radioisotope_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Stirling_radioisotope... [2]https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/feature/Powering_Up_NASA_Human_Reach_for_the_Red_Planet https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/feature/Powering...
24gttghh 9y ago
As of a few years ago, the DOE started making Plutonium again in partnership with NASA [0]. And as of last year that appeared to be still happening [1]. And this Plasma magnet still would need something like an RPS to get past Jupiter, according to the article: >Using a steady, nuclear power or beamed power source, such a craft could accelerate to the heliopause, allowing interstellar precursor missions, such as Kuiper belt exploration and the FOCAL mission within a short time frame. [0]https://www.popsci.com/plutonium-238-is-produced-in-america-for-first-time-in-30-years https://www.popsci.com/plutonium-238-is-produced-in-america-... [1]https://rps.nasa.gov/news/21/a-step-forward-in-reestablishing-the-radioisotope-power-systems-supply-chain/ https://rps.nasa.gov/news/21/a-step-forward-in-reestablishin...

pavel_lishin 9y ago

Penguins have a gland above their eyes that allows them to process saltwater into freshwater.

gene-h 9y ago

The US does in fact produce plutonium 238 now, not much but production is being scaled up[0]. From what I understand, most of the issues with developing new nuclear power sources stem from funding shortages. NASA canceled their Prometheus nuclear reactor program, which was to provide hundreds of kilowatts of power for a Europa orbiter, because the Constellation program needed more money. Most recently, NASA canceled the Advanced Stirling Radioisotopic Generator because development costs had risen more than expected[1]. Although there might be some encouraging results soon, NASA is supposed to be finishing testing of the new Kilopower nuclear reactor at the Nevada test site soon.[2] Next step after this breadboard test is building an integrated system. If they can get to that point, they will have solved much of NASA's problems with plutonium. A nuclear reactor can use uranium fuel which is much simpler to procure than Pu-238. [0]https://www.space.com/36217-plutonium-238-nuclear-spacecraft-fuel-production.html https://www.space.com/36217-plutonium-238-nuclear-spacecraft... [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Stirling_radioisotope_generator https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Stirling_radioisotope... [2]https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/feature/Powering_Up_NASA_Human_Reach_for_the_Red_Planet https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/spacetech/feature/Powering...

24gttghh 9y ago

As of a few years ago, the DOE started making Plutonium again in partnership with NASA [0]. And as of last year that appeared to be still happening [1]. And this Plasma magnet still would need something like an RPS to get past Jupiter, according to the article: >Using a steady, nuclear power or beamed power source, such a craft could accelerate to the heliopause, allowing interstellar precursor missions, such as Kuiper belt exploration and the FOCAL mission within a short time frame. [0]https://www.popsci.com/plutonium-238-is-produced-in-america-for-first-time-in-30-years https://www.popsci.com/plutonium-238-is-produced-in-america-... [1]https://rps.nasa.gov/news/21/a-step-forward-in-reestablishing-the-radioisotope-power-systems-supply-chain/ https://rps.nasa.gov/news/21/a-step-forward-in-reestablishin...