NASA races to put nuclear reactors on Moon and Mars • FRANCE 24 English

A new space race, this time to be the first country with a nuclear power plant on the moon. NASA is moving ahead with plans to build a small lunar reactor. For the acting head of the US space agency, Shawn Duffy, time is of the essence. To properly advance this critical technology to be able to support a future lunar economy, high power energy generation on Mars, and to strengthen our national security in space, it is imperative the agency move quickly. Duffy wants the reactor launched by 2030. That urgency driven by concerns that China and Russia could beat the US to the punch. They’re currently working on their own lunar nuclear plant that NASA fears could lead to the US being denied access to certain areas of the moon. The planned American reactor would be required to generate at least 100 kows of electricity, enough to power about 80 US households, a modest output, but crucial for long-term stays as one lunar night lasts for two Earth weeks. It’s part of NASA’s Aremis mission, a multi-stage program aimed at establishing a permanent human presence on the moon as a stepping stone for further exploration. Not just go to the moon and come back, but be able to go there and stay there for a while and then eventually, you know, use what we learned uh going to the moon to get to Mars. It comes though as NASA is set to see its overall budget cut by nearly a quarter next year as the Trump administration seeks to focus the AY’s goals on human space flight and away from scientific missions like robotic space probes and climate research. Artemis’ first lunar landing is tentatively scheduled for 2027, but that may be an overly ambitious goal as much of the technology involved, including a new lunar lander made by SpaceX, has yet to be tested.

The US aims to deploy nuclear power reactors on the Moon and Mars, targeting the first launch by decade’s end. A new NASA directive, revealed by Politico and AFP, calls for appointing a nuclear power czar to choose two commercial proposals within six months, aiming to outpace a Chinese-Russian collaboration.
#NASA #Moon #Mars

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20 comments

  1. The Moon and Mars both belong to us Americans 🇺🇲 also the 1967 outer space treaty is a complete joke it's even full of loop holes and contradictions that don't even make any sense at all.

  9. Getting ready for changes on earth it’s priority and it’s to sad that no one really able to process information that civilisation is at risk. They think to take people to live there lol 😂 another Hollywood fantasy turned into reality of mortal society. But mortals are part of natural lifecycle society on earth and change in natural lifecycle it’s going to effect natural lifecycle of mortal body

  11. The US Administration is going to laid off 4.000 Nasa workers
    The NYC subway floods every time it rains
    How is the US going to build a reactor on the Moon?

  16. Is this chatter sending a nuclear reactor to the moon surface what’s next nuclear weapons didn’t we sign a treaty on not sending nuclear products up in space and the surface of the moon. Maybe we should research on what or who’d we negotiate these issues before spending another trillion or two on something we already agreed not to do research the facts.

  18. Radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), utilize the heat generated from the radioactive decay of plutonium-238
    Thing is there is a critical US shortage of this element.
    Will Donald use it all on a Photo Op Such a Stable Genius

  20. NASA and spaceX chose Italian space agency and Alenia for Artemis, to build the mobile moon base an the Selene nuclear reactor that was build in Italy too! huge success

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