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A few people were on about nuclear-powered satellites and that reminded me of an ad that I saw in an old Scientific American, so here it is. It's from the August 1966 edition. The ad is for a 25 watt nuclear 'battery' that weighs 3000 pounds (mostly shielding) and a guaranteed life of 5 years per fuelling. Obviously, without the shielding it would only be a few pounds. The cost is $63,320. For comparison, there is another ad in the SA for an E-type Jag and that is about $6000.
It works by using isotope(s) that generate heat and then thermocouples to generate the electricity.
I think I'll buy one and run my 'scope mount on it - don't have to worry anymore about carrying around heavy lead-acids batteries that go flat all the time!
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