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Do you have an answer that isn't speculation or something you concluded from a breezy stroll over to Wikipedia? Stop mocking questions. It solves nothing.
by junon 6y ago
Do you have an answer that isn't speculation or something you concluded from a breezy stroll over to Wikipedia?
Stop mocking questions. It solves nothing.
- btilly 6y agoEach Mars Rover uses 5 kilograms of plutonium 238. (Plutonium 239 is the one that is used in nuclear bombs.) Per https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-mars-rover-will-be-powered-by-us-made-plutonium/ https://www.wired.com/story/nasas-mars-rover-will-be-powered... we currently have a lab dedicated to producing it, and it makes 3.5 pounds per year. Per https://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/141931325/the-plutonium-problem-who-pays-for-space-fuel https://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/141931325/the-plutonium-probl... the cost of getting the lab restarted was a bit shy of $100 million. And once running fully it costs millions of dollars to run. At those cost points it would be cheaper to deliver you a brand new fridge each month for the next 20 years than to deliver you a single fridge using plutonium to run without external electricity for the same 20 years. Not to mention that the plutonium itself is toxic.
- junon 6y agoThanks for the info, interesting. Though FWIW I was more commenting on the mocking of a legitimate question. Not everyone has the same background as everyone else. There are no stupid questions.
- ryandvm 6y agoFair enough. I probably should have dialed down the snark. I suppose if we're looking for a Randall Munroe / "What If?" style explanation of why powering consumer equipment with plutonium is a bad idea, then it was the right question to ask.