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The same plan as for all the countless cases when they sent radioisotopes in space. Perseverance and Curiosity each have 4.5 kg of Plutonium-238 on board. Did t
by credit_guy 4y ago
The same plan as for all the countless cases when they sent radioisotopes in space. Perseverance and Curiosity each have 4.5 kg of Plutonium-238 on board. Did that worry you?
- bayesian_horse 4y agoYes. And the lunar reactor will require more power and thus more fuel.
- philipkglass 4y agoThe plutonium 238 fuel in RTGs has a half life of 87.7 years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-238 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutonium-238 Uranium 235, the fuel used in reactors, has a half life of 703.8 million years: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium-235 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium-235 This means that plutonium 238 is roughly 8 million times as radiotoxic as uranium 235, gram for gram. If this mini-reactor carries 4.5 tonnes of fuel it will be 0.012% as dangerous at launch as the power source for the Curiosity rover.