Space Education and Strategic Applications Journal
In terms of RTGs and their generation of electricity , in 2011 NASA launched the Juno space probe to Jupiter – which instead used three solar arrays to generate onboard electricity . Juno also remains in space , orbiting and studying Jupiter , where sunlight is a hundredth of what it is on Earth .
“ The Elon Musk plan to explode 10,000 nukes over Mars epitomizes the insanity of this rush to move nuclear power into space .”
— Bruce Gagnon , Coordinator Global Network Against Power in Space
After the SNAP 9-A disaster , NASA stopped using RTGs for satellites and was instrumental in developing solar photovoltaic technology . All satellites launched today use solar — as does the International Space Station .
With the rocky transition between former U . S . President Donald Trump , and current President Joe Biden , one compelling question remains : Will there be change in its use of nuclear power in space ? This very question was posed on the cover of the November 16 , 2020 edition Space News entitled , “ JOE BIDEN ’ S TURN , WHAT ’ S IN STORE FOR NASA & SPACE FORCE ?”
It is no secret that President Biden is an advocate of “ advanced ” nuclear power , and a large segment of fellow members of the Democratic Party voted in the U . S . House of Representatives and Senate in 2019 for formation of a U . S . Space Force . The Space News cover article quoted a statement from the Washington aerospace and defense-consulting firm , Velos , that “’ Biden has ‘ expressed no plans for structural changes to U . S . space programs ... the Democratic Party national platform supports continuity within NASA and the Space Force .’”
The leading group since 1992 challenging the use of nuclear power in space is the
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space . The organization ’ s long-time coordinator ,
Bruce Gagnon ( who also shares an article in the current issue of SESA ), comments : “ The Elon Musk plan to explode 10,000 nukes over Mars epitomizes the insanity of this rush to move nuclear power into space . The Department of Energy , which would be responsible for fabricating all of these various nuclear devices being considered for space operations , has a long , tragic record of worker and environmental contamination at their string of labs around the nation . Take , for example , the 1997 launch of the Cassini space probe that carried 72 pounds of toxic plutonium-238 aboard , Gagnon continues , “ just prior to the launch , it was reported that Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico had 244 cases of worker contamination while fabricating the plutonium generators for that mission . So , it is not just some theoretical equation that there might be some accident upon launch . The nuclear production process is killing us before any rocket lifts off from a launch pad .”
Gagnon further explains that “ the plan to build nuclear-powered rockets to Mars , nuclear mining colo-
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