NASA and the Idaho National Laboratory on Friday, November 19, announced a collection of ideas for the construction of a nuclear power plant on the Moon, which could become an energy source independent of the Sun for a permanent habitable station, the Associated Press reports.
The Americans intend to build such a nuclear power plant on the Earth's satellite by the end of the 2020s, the collection of ideas will be completed on February 19, 2022. Sebastian Corbisiero, the head of the project at the laboratory, stressed that reliable and powerful energy on the surface of the Moon will be an important step in human space exploration.
According to NASA, the steady presence of man on the Moon will allow us to set the next goal — Mars. A nuclear reactor operating in the conditions of another planet can be reproduced, and in addition, it will lead to the development of technologies.
It is assumed that the reactor will be created on Earth, and then delivered to the Moon. The system will include a uranium-powered reactor core, a system that converts heat into electricity, a heating control system and a distribution system. The capacity of the NPP should be at least 40 kilowatts for ten years.
The station must be switched on and off without human effort, work on board the lander and be adapted for transportation. For the latter condition, it is prescribed that the reactor must fit into the parameters of a cylinder with a height of four meters and a diameter of six meters.
Earlier this week, Alexander Bloshenko, executive director of the Roscosmos State Corporation for Advanced Programs and Science, said that the preliminary design of the Russian orbital station will begin in 2022. In his opinion, the project needs a year and a half.
Platon Shchukin
