Newsuser "Christopher M. Jones" wrote ...

Why? Because plutonium Pu238 is bad?


A good science is to send a probe which is able to work all 5 years!
Look at Vikings.
Viking budget was about $2.5 billions (for both, recalculated) and
ground stations worked 5 years (average lifetime V1 & V2) so monthly
cost is only $35 millions!!!

Hey, go easy, it's not just that RTGs are kinda politically
hard to sell (though really they aren't), mostly it's the
cost and mass overhead. Solar panels are inexpensive and
easy, RTGs are expensive.

Do you remember RTGs used for Vikings? Mass of 13kg. Is it to much?

I'd like to see an RTG powered
rover myself.

Me too

Just imagining it blows my mind away with
the possibilities, it would be the single greatest thing
in space exploration since Apollo, easily. And it would
go on for years! But, it's gonna be expensive, so I can
wait.

Why expensive?!
What a new design have to be done? Almost nothing!

Interestingly, NASA has plans for such a thing,
and if they can get funding then it will happen.

Funding is sufficient, but the "greens" are out of control :-(

--
(STS)