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New Horizons spacecraft prepares to study Pluto after 9-year voyagePreview
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2014-12-08 20:05
I am sure the uneducated mobocracy tried its best to throw a monkey wrench into the works.The WP article says there were only about 30 protesters, far less than previous missions. The DoE just isn't churning out Pu-238 in mass quantities like it used-to, and it's much more expensive as a result, too.
My question is, why isn't NASA getting more efficient (so that it only needs a fraction as much Pu) since the "T" in RTG is only 5-8% efficient?
They've been extensively developing SRGs to replace RTGs for quite a few decades, requiring only 1/4 as much Pu for the power, yet haven't ever put a single one in space.
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