12 May
2003
12 May
'03
1:21 p.m.
From what I remember, those probes (and most (all?)
other deep space probes, I
think), use a radioisotope decay generator for power. This is a
sub-critical-mass nuclear power plant; it uses the heat produced by a
near-critical lump of plutonium to generate electricity, rather then using
fission to produce heat to produce electricity.
So is this the power supply all those whiney people were bitching about
NASA trying to put into a Mars probe? They were all afraid the probe
would explode during launch and be ground zero of a nuclear blast (or
some other most likely vagely based on reality doomsday outcome activists
are notorious for).
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net>
12 May
12 May
2:02 p.m.
Vaguely true. They're concerned about a pad explosion or unexpected reentry
that could result in plutonium being scattered around the countryside.
Plutonium is an extremely toxic metal. 1 microgram will kill you damn quick.
Plus it's readily absorbed by tissue, which means everywhere you have a Pu
speck, you're irradiating tissue with ionizing radiation in a few centimeter
radius. Not good for a long term outlook.
Incidently, the tree huggers worries on this matter are not completely
unfounded. Because of launch weight issues, the shielding material is not
really designed to survive reentry.
--John
On Monday 12 May 2003 14:20 pm, chris wrote:
From what I remember, those probes (and most (all?)
other deep space
probes, I
think), use a radioisotope decay generator for
power. This is a
sub-critical-mass nuclear power plant; it uses the heat produced by a
near-critical lump of plutonium to generate electricity, rather then using
fission to produce heat to produce electricity.
So is this the power supply all those whiney people were bitching about
NASA trying to put into a Mars probe? They were all afraid the probe
would explode during launch and be ground zero of a nuclear blast (or
some other most likely vagely based on reality doomsday outcome activists
are notorious for).
-chris
<http://www.mythtech.net> 
2:20 p.m.
Well since there is still a spacestation orbiting the globe you can send a
shipment of just the fuel in packages (I assume quite a few could be
launched for the weight of 1 space probe) that will withstand re-entry to
the station and then load these batteries as needed into probes and launch
them from there. Most of the weight of a launch vehicle is just to get the
payload out of earths gravity, very little is needed once your in deep space
to achieve a nice cruising speed.
----- Original Message -----
From: "J.C. Wren" <jcwren(a)jcwren.com>
To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 2:59 PM
Subject: Re: OT: Voyager watts
Vaguely true. They're concerned about a pad
explosion or unexpected
reentry
that could result in plutonium being scattered around
the countryside.
Plutonium is an extremely toxic metal. 1 microgram will kill you damn
quick.
Plus it's readily absorbed by tissue, which means
everywhere you have a Pu
speck, you're irradiating tissue with ionizing radiation in a few
centimeter
radius. Not good for a long term outlook.
Incidently, the tree huggers worries on this matter are not completely
unfounded. Because of launch weight issues, the shielding material is not
really designed to survive reentry.
--John
On Monday 12 May 2003 14:20 pm, chris wrote:
> From what I remember, those probes (and most (all?) other deep space
> probes, I
>
> >think), use a radioisotope decay generator for power. This is a
> >sub-critical-mass nuclear power plant; it uses the heat produced by a
> >near-critical lump of plutonium to generate electricity, rather then
using
> >fission to produce heat to produce
electricity.
>
> So is this the power supply all those whiney people were bitching about
> NASA trying to put into a Mars probe? They were all afraid the probe
> would explode during launch and be ground zero of a nuclear blast (or
> some other most likely vagely based on reality doomsday outcome
activists
> are notorious for).
>
> -chris
> <http://www.mythtech.net>
2:47 p.m.
On Mon, 12 May 2003, chris wrote:
So is this the power supply all those whiney people
were bitching about
NASA trying to put into a Mars probe? They were all afraid the probe
would explode during launch and be ground zero of a nuclear blast (or
some other most likely vagely based on reality doomsday outcome activists
are notorious for).
Well, considering the recent catastrophes in NASA's record, I don't think
these concerns are exaggerated.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
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