Updated: Sun, Aug 8, 2004, 9:49 AM ET (1349 GMT)
Originally Posted: Sun, Aug 8, 2004, 9:15 AM ET (1315 GMT)
Delays in the manufacture of a power source for NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto will require the agency to decide between delaying the mission or cutting back the power requirements of the spacecraft, Space News reported late Friday. NASA officials had said earlier in the week that delays in the preparation of plutonium fuel for a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) at Los Alamos National Lab, caused by a work stoppage at the facility for a security audit, might cause the agency to delay the mission if the RTG cannot be completed by the end of this year. However, on Friday Orlando Figueroa, director of NASA's solar system exploration program, told Space News that it was now considered unlikely that the RTG will be completed on time. Figueroa said that besides delaying the launch of the mission on year — a move that would delay the spacecraft's arrival at Pluto by several years — NASA was looking at accepting an RTG on schedule that was not fully-fueled. This RTG would be able to generate less power, requiring NASA to reduce the power requirements of the spacecraft by turning off unneeded excess or backup systems. There are no plans, though, to remove instruments or otherwise cut back on the science return of the mission. NASA is expected to make a decision on delaying or descoping the mission by mid-September.

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•  Space News/SPACE.com article