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From: henry@UTZOO.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Galileo plutonium
Message-ID: <8603011608.AA02781@seismo.CSS.GOV>
Date: Sat, 1-Mar-86 11:08:21 EST
Article-I.D.: seismo.8603011608.AA02781
Posted: Sat Mar  1 11:08:21 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 2-Mar-86 19:18:20 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 15

Paul Dietz writes, in part:

> ... A solution to the radiation problem
> might be to launch the radioisotope source separately and assemble in
> orbit (probably not feasible for current probes) ...

What probably would be feasible would be what was done for the isotope
cartridges the later Apollo missions carried for their lunar-surface
experiment packages:  The isotope slug goes up as part of the same payload,
but inside an armored cask.  At deployment time, the astronauts transfer it
from the cask to the generator.  This would mean that NASA would have to
get over some of its fetish about avoiding in-space assembly, though.

				Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
				{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!henry