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    U.S. demonstrates production of Fuel for Missions to the Solar System and beyond

    December 23, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013), plus three exposures taken during Sol 270 (May 10, 2013) to update the appearance of part of the ground beside the rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

    This self-portrait of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity’s work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013), plus three exposures taken during Sol 270 (May 10, 2013) to update the appearance of part of the ground beside the rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

    The first U.S. production in nearly 30 years of a specialized fuel to power future deep space missions has been completed by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee. The production of 50 grams of plutonium-238 -roughly the mass of a golf ball – marks the first demonstration in the US since the Savannah River Plant in South Carolina ceased production in the late 1980s.

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