NASA is holding a pair of public hearings today ion Florida’s Space Coast about the planned use of a nuclear-powered RTG on the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft, planned for launch from Cape Canaveral in 2009. The hearings, this afternoon and this evening, “will give area residents a chance to hear NASA’s explanation of the mission, the dangers and the safety measures being taken by the government,” according to Florida Today. And yes, the anti-nuclear activist community is aware of this and plans to fight this launch, as they have previous launches, according to Bruce Gagnon. However, past efforts have not been successful and were very limited for the last NASA mission to carry an RTG, New Horizons.
Space Politics
Because sometimes the most important orbit is the Beltway…2 Comments
Chris Mann wrote @ September 28th, 2006 at 11:50 am
And yes, the anti-nuclear activist community is aware of this and plans to fight this launch
All five of them, just like last launch. I hate to say this, but environmentalists are starting to get a clue in regards to nuclear power.
Donald Duck wrote @ October 3rd, 2006 at 12:01 am
Hey Jeff
Remember when we were at JPL and the Planetfest in 1989? There were some interesting comments about the toughness of RTG’s then.
Dennis
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