Prometheus Pre-empted? New Nuclear Fission Missions Evaluated

By Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
posted: 10 December 2004
04:45 pm ET

NASA is reviewing a list of fission-powered missions that could pre-empt the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) effort now being eyed for space travel no sooner than 2015.

A special study team has identified six potential candidate missions that could be done sooner, have shorter mission durations, and would be far less difficult to implement.

JIMO has been touted as the flagship mission for Project Prometheus. JIMO would be the space agency’s first mission using nuclear electric propulsion. In September, NASA selected Northrop Grumman Space Technology as the contractor for the proposed Prometheus JIMO spacecraft.

The Prometheus JIMO mission has been billed as part of an ambitious mission to orbit and explore three planet-sized moons -- Callisto, Ganymede and Europa -- of Jupiter. The moons may have vast oceans beneath their icy surfaces. A nuclear reactor would enable the mission.

more
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/jimo_update_041210.html

....why would they want to flirt with this disaster waitin' to happen....by the lowest bidder no less?! :scared: