Reviewers Caution NASA Over Plans for Nuclear-Powered Craft

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Up in the air: NASA is struggling to fund the development of the nuclear-powered craft proposed for the JIMO mission to Jupiter’s moons. Reviewers caution NASA over plans for nuclear-powered craft

Tony Reichhardt,Washington NASA officials claim that some of the Weighing the costs and long travel times An ambitious NASA project to use nuclear upfront investment in designing JIMO will against the scientific return, planetary scien- reactors to power spacecraft may be heading make future nuclear missions cheaper. But tist Reta Beebe of New Mexico State Univers- for trouble, based on early reactions in Con- either way, the project promises to consume ity in Las Cruces said at the meeting that the gress and from scientists studying future a significant fraction of the agency’s current nuclear missions could be a hard sell with space missions that would depend on them. annual space science budget of $4 billion. scientists.“This is not inspiring,”she said. Later this month, NASA will choose an JIMO would unquestionably be a big step Jerry Grey, a space-policy expert with the industrial contractor to begin designing its up in technology. Its nuclear reactor would American Institute of Aeronautics and Astro- first such spacecraft,the proposed Jupiter Icy provide at least 10,000 watts of electricity for nautics who recently chaired a space nuclear- Moons Orbiter (JIMO). The mission, tenta- scientific instruments, against the 300 watts power round table in Washington, says that tively planned for launch around 2015, has available to the Cassini spacecraft now building JIMO poses no technical showstop- strong personal backing from the agency’s orbiting Saturn. The power boost would pers,but “it ain’t gonna be easy”.It will require administrator Sean O’Keefe. allow sophisticated equipment such as ice- a thorough ground testing programme, and NASA surprised the scientific community penetrating radars to fly for the first time and the risk of failure will still be high. Virtually last year by proposing JIMO, which would would greatly increase the volume of data everything on the mission will be new tech- orbit several of Jupiter’s moons at close range, from cameras and other instruments. nology that will need to run for a decade or and would be more technically capable than But a National Academy of Sciences panel, more without breaking down in space. any scientific spacecraft ever built. asked by NASA to look at the value of nuclear Daunting as these challenges are, JIMO is But many scientists are concerned about power for space missions,met in Washington also off to a bad start politically. This summer the mission’s cost and political viability. on 31 August to 2 September and seemed the House appropriations committee cut NASA won’t even hazard a guess on the final underwhelmed by presentations from NASA $230 million from next year’s budget request price tag until definition studies are com- managers on possible follow-on missions to of $438 million for Project Prometheus. pleted next summer, says Ray Taylor, who JIMO. A Neptune mission, for example, Unless the money is restored by the Senate,the heads Project Prometheus, the broader would still take nearly 20 years to return sci- effect on the programme would be “severe”, nuclear programme that includes JIMO. But entific data, offering no real advantage over says Taylor, who claims that Congress sup- estimates to build the nuclear propulsion conventional missions. And it would require ports the project, and had to cut its funding system alone run as high as $4.5 billion, and much bigger rockets than the largest planned because of competing budget demands. “To the spacecraft structure and science instru- US launch vehicle to deliver the craft to our knowledge,there’s a tremendous amount ments would add billions more. Earth orbit before it headed into deep space. of support”for it going ahead,he says. ■