On Friday, November 14, 2014 7:25:54 PM UTC-5, Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Fri, 14 Nov 2014 16:16:56 -0800 (PST), RichA
wrote:

Practically nobody is opposed to using RTGs. But that doesn't make
them the technology of choice for every application. That would have
been a poor engineering decision in this case.

Why?

Because of mass constraints. Because of budget constraints. Because of
risk versus benefit analysis. These things are real. Every design is a
balance of engineering decisions.

Believe it or not, the scientists and engineers who design these
missions know what they're doing. Where is your source of information
to second guess them?

Risk?