Origin : Marie Curie named the element after her homeland Poland.
Description :
Marie Curie isolated polonium from the uranium ore, pitchblende, in which it exists in tiny amounts. It is a radioactive metal produced today in gram quantities from bismuth in nuclear reactors, and used as a source of alpha radiation or as a heat source in space vehicles.
Image :
Based on Luna E-1, the first spacecraft to reach escape velocity and the first to reach the moon. Click here to see larger version of this image.
