The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems

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Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 030910484X
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems by : National Research Council

Download or read book The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-07-26 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth (terran life). Most of NASA's mission planning is focused on locations where liquid water is possible and emphasizes searches for structures that resemble cells in terran organisms. It is possible, however, that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas. To assist NASA incorporate this possibility in its efforts to search for life, the NRC was asked to carry out a study to evaluate whether nonstandard biochemistry might support life in solar system and conceivable extrasolar environments, and to define areas to guide research in this area. This book presents an exploration of a limited set of hypothetical chemistries of life, a review of current knowledge concerning key questions or hypotheses about nonterran life, and suggestions for future research.

The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems

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Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309179564
Total Pages : 116 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems by : National Research Council

Download or read book The Limits of Organic Life in Planetary Systems written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-06-26 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The search for life in the solar system and beyond has to date been governed by a model based on what we know about life on Earth (terran life). Most of NASA's mission planning is focused on locations where liquid water is possible and emphasizes searches for structures that resemble cells in terran organisms. It is possible, however, that life exists that is based on chemical reactions that do not involve carbon compounds, that occurs in solvents other than water, or that involves oxidation-reduction reactions without oxygen gas. To assist NASA incorporate this possibility in its efforts to search for life, the NRC was asked to carry out a study to evaluate whether nonstandard biochemistry might support life in solar system and conceivable extrasolar environments, and to define areas to guide research in this area. This book presents an exploration of a limited set of hypothetical chemistries of life, a review of current knowledge concerning key questions or hypotheses about nonterran life, and suggestions for future research.

The Mereon Matrix

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Author :
Publisher : Newnes
ISBN 13 : 0124046886
Total Pages : 602 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (24 download)

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Book Synopsis The Mereon Matrix by : Lynnclaire Dennis

Download or read book The Mereon Matrix written by Lynnclaire Dennis and published by Newnes. This book was released on 2013-05-21 with total page 602 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mereon is an approach to the unification of knowledge that relies on whole systems modelling. It is a scientific framework that charts the sequential, emergent growth process of systems. A dynamic structure, Mereon provides insight and a new approach to General Systems Theory and non-linear science. Mereon evolved through a new approach to polyhedral geometry and topology that is related to the dynamics of the polyhedra. It is related to a large number of systems, physical, mathematical, and philosophical. In linking these systems, Mereon provides access to new relationships among them and combines geometric and process thinking. This book provides the fundamentals of such connections for an ongoing search for order, directionality, and diversity that is found in this unity. It is written in clear language that manages to connect diverse disciplines and in doing so, makes a complex system easily accessible and understandable. It will be of interest to mathematicians, geneticists, and all those interested in researching unity in science and astrobiology. Elaborates on several important aspects of General Systems Theory including nonlinearity. Each chapter is self-contained and explained relative to Mereon, providing references to scientific findings that are congruent with or expanded by Mereon. Offers a new way of modelling that can be applied across the sciences.

The Carbon Age

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0802778976
Total Pages : 321 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (27 download)

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Book Synopsis The Carbon Age by : Eric Roston

Download or read book The Carbon Age written by Eric Roston and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-08-09 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What do bubbles in a soft drink, a bullet-proof vest, a plastic chair, and our DNA have in common? Carbon. It is, and forever has been, the ubiquitous architect of life and civilization, forming the chemical backbone of every living creature. And yet, when we hear the word today, it is more often than not in a crisis situation: carbon dioxide emissions are destroying the ozone layer and warming the planet; the volatile Middle East explodes atop its stores of hydrocarbons; carbohydrates threaten obesity and diabetics. Carbon, thus, sustains us and threatens us in equal measure, Eric Roston illuminates this essential element in all its forms, cleverly recreating the intricate carbon cycle on the page by tracing its journey from the Big Bang to Earth and its extraordinary infiltration of this planet and, in time, influence on humankind and civilization. Evoking its ubiquity-more than 99% of all 31 million known substances contain carbon-Roston chronicles the ways we have used it, often to surprising, and sometimes to catastrophic, effect: having sped up the carbon cycle in the last two centuries, we are now attempting to wrestle Earth's geochemical cycle back from the brink. Blending the latest science with original reporting, Roston makes us aware, as never before, of the seminal impact carbon has, and has had, on our lives.

The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry

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Publisher : Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 0080568777
Total Pages : 982 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (85 download)

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Book Synopsis The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry by : Camille Georges Wermuth

Download or read book The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry written by Camille Georges Wermuth and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2011-05-02 with total page 982 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry fills a gap in the list of available medicinal chemistry literature. It is a single-volume source on the practical aspects of medicinal chemistry. Considered ""the Bible"" by medicinal chemists, the book emphasizes the methods that chemists use to conduct their research and design new drug entities. It serves as a practical handbook about the drug discovery process, from conception of the molecules to drug production. The first part of the book covers the background of the subject matter, which includes the definition and history of medicinal chemistry, the measurement of biological activities, and the main phases of drug activity. The second part of the book presents the road to discovering a new lead compound and creating a working hypothesis. The main parts of the book discuss the optimization of the lead compound in terms of potency, selectivity, and safety. The Practice of Medicinal Chemistry can be considered a ""first-read"" or ""bedside book"" for readers who are embarking on a career in medicinal chemistry.NEW TO THIS EDITION: * Focus on chemoinformatics and drug discovery * Enhanced pedagogical features* New chapters including: - Drug absorption and transport - Multi-target drugs* Updates on hot new areas: NEW! Drug discovery and the latest techniques NEW! How potential drugs can move through the drug discovery/ development phases more quickly NEW! Chemoinformatics

Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309379040
Total Pages : 81 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (93 download)

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Book Synopsis Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions by : European Science Foundation

Download or read book Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions written by European Science Foundation and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2016-01-15 with total page 81 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Planetary protection is a guiding principle in the design of an interplanetary mission, aiming to prevent biological contamination of both the target celestial body and the Earth. The protection of high-priority science goals, the search for life and the understanding of the Martian organic environment may be compromised if Earth microbes carried by spacecraft are grown and spread on Mars. This has led to the definition of Special Regions on Mars where strict planetary protection measures have to be applied before a spacecraft can enter these areas. At NASA's request, the community-based Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) established the Special Regions Science Analysis Group (SR-SAG2) in October 2013 to examine the quantitative definition of a Special Region and proposed modifications to it, as necessary, based upon the latest scientific results. Review of the MEPAG Report on Mars Special Regions reviews the conclusions and recommendations contained in MEPAG's SR-SAG2 report and assesses their consistency with current understanding of both the Martian environment and the physical and chemical limits for the survival and propagation of microbial and other life on Earth. This report provides recommendations for an update of the planetary protection requirements for Mars Special Regions.

Alien Ocean

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Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520250621
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis Alien Ocean by : Stefan Helmreich

Download or read book Alien Ocean written by Stefan Helmreich and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2009-01-05 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Alien Ocean immerses readers in worlds being newly explored by marine biologists: the deep sea, the microscopic realm, and oceans beyond national boundaries. Working alongside scientists on ships at sea, in coastal research labs, and at undersea volcanoes, Stefan Helmreich charts how revolutions in genomics, bioinformatics, and remote sensing have pressed marine bioligists to view the sea as animated by its smallest inhabitants: marine microbes. Thriving in astonishingly extreme conditions, such microbes have become key figures in scientific and public debates about the origin of life, climate change, biotechnology, and even the possibility of life on other worlds."--Cover.

Grading NASA's Solar System Exploration Program

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309114926
Total Pages : 100 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Grading NASA's Solar System Exploration Program by : National Research Council

Download or read book Grading NASA's Solar System Exploration Program written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2008-04-25 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The NASA Authorization Act of 2005 directed the agency to ask the NRC to assess the performance of each division in the NASA Science directorate at five-year intervals. In this connection, NASA requested the NRC to review the progress the Planetary Exploration Division has made in implementing recommendations from previous, relevant NRC studies. This book provides an assessment of NASA's progress in fulfilling those recommendations including an evaluation how well it is doing and of current trends. The book covers key science questions, flight missions, Mars exploration, research and analysis, and enabling technologies. Recommendations are provided for those areas in particular need of improvement.

Grass, Soil, Hope

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Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN 13 : 160358546X
Total Pages : 274 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis Grass, Soil, Hope by : Courtney White

Download or read book Grass, Soil, Hope written by Courtney White and published by Chelsea Green Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-23 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tackles an increasingly crucial question: What can we do about the seemingly intractable challenges confronting all of humanity today, including climate change, global hunger, water scarcity, environmental stress, and economic instability? The quick answers are: Build topsoil. Fix creeks. Eat meat from pasture-raised animals. Scientists maintain that a mere 2 percent increase in the carbon content of the planet’s soils could offset 100 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere. But how could this be accomplished? What would it cost? Is it even possible? Yes, says author Courtney White, it is not only possible, but essential for the long-term health and sustainability of our environment and our economy. Right now, the only possibility of large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere is through plant photosynthesis and related land-based carbon sequestration activities. These include a range of already existing, low-tech, and proven practices: composting, no-till farming, climate-friendly livestock practices, conserving natural habitat, restoring degraded watersheds and rangelands, increasing biodiversity, and producing local food. In Grass, Soil, Hope, the author shows how all these practical strategies can be bundled together into an economic and ecological whole, with the aim of reducing atmospheric CO2 while producing substantial co-benefits for all living things. Soil is a huge natural sink for carbon dioxide. If we can draw increasing amounts carbon out of the atmosphere and store it safely in the soil then we can significantly address all the multiple challenges that now appear so intractable.

Extraterrestrials

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262357607
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis Extraterrestrials by : Wade Roush

Download or read book Extraterrestrials written by Wade Roush and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are we alone in the universe? If not, where is everybody? An engaging exploration of one of the most important unsolved problems in science. Everything we know about how planets form and how life arises suggests that human civilization on Earth should not be unique. We ought to see abundant evidence of extraterrestrial activity—but we don't. Where is everybody? In this volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series, science and technology writer Wade Roush examines one of the great unsolved problems in science: is there life, intelligent or otherwise, on other planets? This paradox (they're bound to be out there; but where are they?), first formulated by the famed physicist Enrico Fermi, has fueled decades of debate, speculation, and, lately, some actual science. Roush lays out the problem in its historical and modern-day context and summarizes the latest thinking among astronomers and astrobiologists. He describes the long history of speculation about aliens (we've been debating the idea for thousands of years); the emergence of SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) as a scientific discipline in the 1960s, and scientists' use of radio and optical techniques to scan for signals; and developments in astrobiology (the study of how life might arise in non-Earth like environments) and exoplanet research (the discovery of planets outside our solar system). Finally, he discusses possible solutions to the Fermi Paradox and suggests way to refocus SETI work that might increase the chances of resolving the paradox—and finding extraterrestrials.

Space Studies Board Annual Report 2017

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 030947762X
Total Pages : 129 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (94 download)

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Book Synopsis Space Studies Board Annual Report 2017 by : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Download or read book Space Studies Board Annual Report 2017 written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-12-19 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The original charter of the Space Science Board was established in June 1958, three months before the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) opened its doors. The Space Science Board and its successor, the Space Studies Board (SSB), have provided expert external and independent scientific and programmatic advice to NASA on a continuous basis from NASA's inception until the present. The SSB has also provided such advice to other executive branch agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Department of Defense, as well as to Congress. Space Studies Board Annual Report 2017 covers a message from the chair of the SSB, David N. Spergel. This report also explains the origins of the Space Science Board, how the Space Studies Board functions today, the SSB's collaboration with other National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine units, assures the quality of the SSB reports, acknowledges the audience and sponsors, and expresses the necessity to enhance the outreach and improve dissemination of SSB reports. This report will be relevant to a full range of government audiences in civilian space research - including NASA, NSF, NOAA, USGS, and the Department of Energy, as well members of the SSB, policy makers, and researchers.

Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Spacecraft Missions to Icy Solar System Bodies

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309256755
Total Pages : 94 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Spacecraft Missions to Icy Solar System Bodies by : National Research Council

Download or read book Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Spacecraft Missions to Icy Solar System Bodies written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-08-10 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NASA's exploration of planets and satellites during the past 50 years has led to the discovery of traces of water ice throughout the solar system and prospects for large liquid water reservoirs beneath the frozen ICE shells of multiple satellites of the giant planets of the outer solar system. During the coming decades, NASA and other space agencies will send flybys, orbiters, subsurface probes, and, possibly, landers to these distant worlds in order to explore their geologic and chemical context. Because of their potential to harbor alien life, NASA will select missions that target the most habitable outer solar system objects. This strategy poses formidable challenges for mission planners who must balance the opportunity for exploration with the risk of contamination by Earth's microbes, which could confuse the interpretation of data obtained from these objects. The 2000 NRC report Preventing the Forward Contamination of Europa provided a criterion that was adopted with prior recommendations from the Committee on Space Research of the International Council for Science. This current NRC report revisits and extends the findings and recommendations of the 2000 Europa report in light of recent advances in planetary and life sciences and, among other tasks, assesses the risk of contamination of icy bodies in the solar system.

Look at the Bunny

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Publisher : John Hunt Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1780991401
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (89 download)

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Book Synopsis Look at the Bunny by : Dominic Pettman

Download or read book Look at the Bunny written by Dominic Pettman and published by John Hunt Publishing. This book was released on 2013-03-29 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are totems merely a thing of the distant past? Or might it be that our sleek new machines are producing totemic forces which we are only beginning to recognize? This book asks to what degree today's media technologies are haunted by a Freudian ghost, functioning as totems or taboos (or both). By isolating five case-studies (rabbits in popular culture, animated creatures that go "off-program," virtual lovers, jealous animal spirit guides, and electronic paradises), Look at the Bunny highlights and explores today's techno-totemic environment. In doing so, it explores how nonhuman avatars are increasingly expected to shepherd us beyond our land-locked identities, into a risky - sometimes ecstatic - relationship with the Other. ,

Frontiers of Astrobiology

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107006414
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Frontiers of Astrobiology by : Chris Impey

Download or read book Frontiers of Astrobiology written by Chris Impey and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-11-15 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Investigating the latest research questions in astrobiology, this volume will fascinate a wide interdisciplinary audience at all levels.

Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309130735
Total Pages : 90 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions by : National Research Council

Download or read book Assessment of Planetary Protection Requirements for Mars Sample Return Missions written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-06-06 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NASA maintains a planetary protection policy to avoid the forward biological contamination of other worlds by terrestrial organisms, and back biological contamination of Earth from the return of extraterrestrial materials by spaceflight missions. Forward-contamination issues related to Mars missions were addressed in a 2006 National Research Council (NRC) book, Preventing the Forward Contamination of Mars. However, it has been more than 10 years since back-contamination issues were last examined. Driven by a renewed interest in Mars sample return missions, this book reviews, updates, and replaces the planetary protection conclusions and recommendations contained in the NRC's 1997 report Mars Sample Return: Issues and Recommendations. The specific issues addressed in this book include the following: The potential for living entities to be included in samples returned from Mars; Scientific investigations that should be conducted to reduce uncertainty in the above assessment; The potential for large-scale effects on Earth's environment by any returned entity released to the environment; Criteria for intentional sample release, taking note of current and anticipated regulatory frameworks; and The status of technological measures that could be taken on a mission to prevent the inadvertent release of a returned sample into Earth's biosphere.

The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309185769
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon by : National Research Council

Download or read book The Scientific Context for Exploration of the Moon written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2007-07-03 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because of the Moon's unique place in the evolution of rocky worlds, it is a prime focus of NASA's space exploration vision. Currently NASA is defining and implementing a series of robotic orbital and landed missions to the Moon as the initial phase of this vision. To realize the benefits of this activity, NASA needs a comprehensive, well-validated, and prioritized set of scientific research objectives. To help establish those objectives, NASA asked the NRC to provide guidance on the scientific challenges and opportunities enabled by sustained robotic and human exploration of the Moon during the period 2008-2023 and beyond. This final report presents a review of the current understanding of the early earth and moon; the identification of key science concepts and goals for moon exploration; an assessment of implementation options; and a set of prioritized lunar science concepts, goals, and recommendations. An interim report was released in September 2006.

Radioisotope Power Systems

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Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309138574
Total Pages : 68 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Radioisotope Power Systems by : National Research Council

Download or read book Radioisotope Power Systems written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2009-08-14 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spacecraft require electrical energy. This energy must be available in the outer reaches of the solar system where sunlight is very faint. It must be available through lunar nights that last for 14 days, through long periods of dark and cold at the higher latitudes on Mars, and in high-radiation fields such as those around Jupiter. Radioisotope power systems (RPSs) are the only available power source that can operate unconstrained in these environments for the long periods of time needed to accomplish many missions, and plutonium-238 (238Pu) is the only practical isotope for fueling them. Plutonium-238 does not occur in nature. The committee does not believe that there is any additional 238Pu (or any operational 238Pu production facilities) available anywhere in the world.The total amount of 238Pu available for NASA is fixed, and essentially all of it is already dedicated to support several pending missions-the Mars Science Laboratory, Discovery 12, the Outer Planets Flagship 1 (OPF 1), and (perhaps) a small number of additional missions with a very small demand for 238Pu. If the status quo persists, the United States will not be able to provide RPSs for any subsequent missions.