Solar CP – Weaponization Solvency

Solar Cp – Exploration Solvency

Plutonium-238 has been used to generate electricity on space probes and rovers and also satellites. But in 1964 a satellite with a plutonium-fueled generator, after failing to achieve orbit, fell to Earth, breaking up as it hit the atmosphere and dispersing 2.1 pounds of Pu-238 from its SNAP -- (for Systems Nuclear Auxiliary Power) 9A system. A study by a group of European health and radiation protection agencies reported that "a worldwide soil sampling program in 1970 showed SNAP-9A debris present at all continents and at all latitudes." Dr. John Gofman, professor of medical physics at the University of California at Berkeley, long linked that fall-out to an increase of lung cancer on Earth. The accident caused NASA to pioneer the use of solar panels on satellites. NASA still used Pu-238 for space probes claiming there was no alternative -- even when there was. For example, NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) insisted, including in court testimony, that there was no choice but plutonium power on the Galileo mission to Jupiter launched in 1989. Subsequently, through the Freedom of Information Act, I obtained a study done by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory finding that solar panels could have worked. Currently, NASA is preparing to send its Juno space probe to Jupiter next year -- and it's to get all its on board electricity from solar panels. Rovers have also used solar panels.

NASA IGNORES A SAFE ALTERNATIVE NASA claims that a nuclear-powered Cassini probe is the only option available to reach Saturn. However, NASA's own Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) essentially refutes this claim. The plutonium on board the space probe is only to be used as a power source to produce electricity for instruments on the probe, not for propulsion. In preparation for the Galileo mission (a previous space probe containing the RTG-encased plutonium), NASA also claimed that nuclear power was the only method available. Yet just a few weeks after the launch, JPL was forced through the Freedom of Information Act to release a report which stated that the mission could have been performed with solar power "without changing the mission sequence or impacting science objectives."(8) NASA lied before the Galileo launch about the need to use plutonium. In fact, solar power could be used on the Cassini mission if NASA desired. In 1994, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the development of new high-performance solar cells. ESA physicist Carla Signorini stated, "If given the money to do the work, within five years (ESA) could have solar cells ready to power a space mission to Saturn."(9) If the Cassini mission can be performed safely with solar power, why is NASA taking such a large risk by using deadly plutonium?

The Global Network noted that through the years it “has emphasized that there are safe alternatives to energize space devices. In recent times, NASA, at long last, has begun substituting solar energy for nuclear power in space. Indeed, in coming months NASA's solar-powered Juno spacecraft will be launched on a five-year mission to Jupiter. It was not long ago that NASA emphatically insisted that solar power could not substitute for nuclear beyond the orbit of Mars. Suddenly, it now can be done.” “Likewise,” said the statement, as “numerous studies have documented, safe, clean, renewable energy technologies now here can provide all the power we need on earth. Nuclear power and its deadly dangers are unnecessary” It cited a Scientific American 2009 cover story, “A Plan for A Sustainable future,” which concluded: “Wind, water and solar technologies can provide 100 percent of the world's energy needs."