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Not only is the article title misleading linkbait -- it's mostly about the discovery of the actinide elements -- it doesn't make any sense. The LEM (Lunar Excu

Not only is the article title misleading linkbait -- it's mostly about the discovery of the actinide elements -- it doesn't make any sense. The LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) did carry an RTG (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator) -- but this was for the ALSEP (Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package), which is what the training photograph shows Lovell carrying. The instruments were stored in an equipment bay and weren't even accessible from inside the LEM, and weren't relevant to navigation or communications anyway. The heat output of the RTG was not intended for life support, nor for keeping any LEM systems within safe operating temperatures. I am at a loss as to how plutonium was relevant to the astronaut's survival. What is an interesting story is the fact that the Apollo 13 RTG is now resting at the bottom of the Tonga Trench in the Pacific Ocean, since the LEM re-entered the Earth's atmosphere after it was jettisoned prior to reentry: http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/aerospace-engineering/nuclear-propulsion/will-anyone-recover-apollo-13s-plutonium/ http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/aerospace-engineering/nuc...

pja 12y ago
I think the idea is that the heat output of the battery (about 1.5kW) may have made the difference between the astronauts surviving and not since they had no other heat source available - the LEM heaters were all shut down to conserve power after the explosion. Clearly the plutonium heat output was never intended to heat the LEM during ordinary operation, since not all missions carried such experimental apparatus - presumably had the mission gone to plan the normal LEM heaters would have run on a lower duty cycle to compensate for the extra heat input from the plutonium cargo. I agree that it's a badly written article that doesn't actually follow through on the title, so the above is purely guesswork.

pja 12y ago

I think the idea is that the heat output of the battery (about 1.5kW) may have made the difference between the astronauts surviving and not since they had no other heat source available - the LEM heaters were all shut down to conserve power after the explosion. Clearly the plutonium heat output was never intended to heat the LEM during ordinary operation, since not all missions carried such experimental apparatus - presumably had the mission gone to plan the normal LEM heaters would have run on a lower duty cycle to compensate for the extra heat input from the plutonium cargo. I agree that it's a badly written article that doesn't actually follow through on the title, so the above is purely guesswork.