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Perhaps this should be 'science in space' but that would be going too far...

Thanks to David Shiga writing for the New Scientist for this. What do spacecraft and smoke alarms have in common? A material commonly used to detect smoke on Earth could soon power robotic missions to other planets. Previous spacecraft travelling to the outer solar system have been powered by the decay of plutonium-238. The isotope is running out, though.

The US stopped producing plutonium-238 in the 1980s and NASA has nearly used up the leftovers from that period. The US Congress has so far baulked at paying the many millions of dollars it would take to restart production.

This could mean that there will not be enough plutonium-238 for a joint NASA and European Space Agency mission to Jupiter (pictured) and its icy moon, Europa, which is planned for launch around 2020. ESA now plans to build up an alternative supply of americium-241. In smoke detectors, the material's decay helps to make ions that trigger an alarm when smoke particles attach to them.

On the downside, it takes more of the stuff to supply one unit of power, which could be a drawback for space missions, in which weight must be kept at a minimum.(16/7/10)

Moonbase living  gets one step nearer thanks to NASA

This came to us via a fairly circular route, so we thought we’d run it as it’s not one that would normally come our way. So our thanks goes to Katherine Martin who works at the Glenn Research Centre in Cleveland for this report.

NASA astronauts will need power sources when they return to the moon and establish a lunar outpost and engineers are exploring the possibility of nuclear fission to provide the necessary power.

A fission surface power system on the moon has the potential to generate a steady 40 kilowatts of electric power, enough for about eight houses on Earth. It works by splitting uranium atoms in a reactor to generate heat that then is converted into electric power.

"Our goal is to build a technology demonstration unit with all the major components of a fission surface power system and conduct non-nuclear, integrated system testing in a ground-based space simulation facility," said Lee Mason, principal investigator for the test. Testing of the non-nuclear system is expected to take place at Glenn in 2012 or 2013.

Radiation on Jupiter's moons causes 'strange reactions'

Lab coats on again: By his own admission, Thomas Orlando, based at the Georgia Institute of Technology, deals with "weird chemistry." In fact, the researcher studies chemical processes that are literally out of this world -- reactions occurring on the moons of Jupiter, driven by extreme radiation at ultra-cold temperatures.

How about a nuclear powered space ship?

Back in 2003,the US Air Force was examining the feasibility of a nuclear-powered version of an unmanned aircraft. The USAF hoped that such a vehicle would be able to "loiter" in the air for months without refuelling, striking at will when a target comes into its sights.

Fred waits to greet astronauts at space station

Waiting for the current astronauts’ arrival is an unusual space traveller named Fred. He is orbiting Earth aboard the International Space Station. His job? To keep astronauts safe from space radiation.

How dangerous is Mars trip?

Can people go to Mars? Space radiation between Earth and Mars poses a hazard to astronauts. As we speak, NASA scientists are working to find out how dangerous it is out there.

Two weeks to get to Mars? Just fuel up those rockets

Mars In Just Two Weeks (January 3, 2001) -- Scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have shown that an unusual nuclear fuel could speed space vehicles from Earth to Mars in as little as two weeks

For more Science-related nuggets, please go to  the Science Stuff pages

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