In April 1970, the Apollo 13 lunar mission was aborted because of an oxygen tank explosion in the command module. A SNAP-27 RTG system containing 3.8 kg of Pu238 O2 aboard the Apollo 13 lunar excursion module reentered the atmosphere above the south Pacific and fell into the Tonga Trench.3

(a) Compute the initial thermal power output of the Pu-238 source.

(b) Compute the current thermal power output of the Pu-238 source.

(c) It is estimated that the corrosion-resistant container holding the Pu- 238 could remain intact a several hundred years. Compute the power out- put of the Pu-238 source after 300 years