Tuesday
Nov082011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 11:15AM
The Plutonium Problem: Who Pays For Space Fuel?
"When NASA's next Mars rover blasts off later this month, the car-sized robot will carry with it nearly eight pounds of a special kind of plutonium fuel that's in short supply."
"NASA has relied on that fuel, called plutonium-238, to power robotic missions for five decades."
"But with supplies running low, scientists who want the government to make more are finding that it sometimes seems easier to chart a course across the solar system than to navigate the budget process inside Washington, D.C."
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