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Old 01-17-2006, 06:06 PM   #9
Seraph
Quintesson
 

Join Date: September 12, 2001
Location: Ewing, NJ
Age: 43
Posts: 1,079
I think that the current ion drives are solar powered. There isn't a whole lot of solar energy out by pluto.

There was a NASA effort to use nuclear power to run an ion engine, named Project Prometheus, however funding has all but disapeared.

Quote:
Wasn't Cassini nuclear-powered, also? The probe they launched back in...erm...'98 maybe? I remember it from childhood, but would have to look up the date.
Cassini, Voyager 1&2, Pioneer 10&11, 6 Apollo missions, and several other NASA projects have used radioactive decay for power. The Martian Rovers used a similar technology to keep themselves warm

[ 01-17-2006, 06:22 PM: Message edited by: Seraph ]
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