Power supply is a critical issue if NASA is to achieve its goal of a permanent human presence on the Moon and a crewed flight to Mars.
The problem with building a lunar base is that shipping equipment to the moon’s surface is very expensive, and shipping costs are estimated at $100,000 per 0.45kg of cargo. Worse still, the sole will have to withstand 14 days of the day when the temperature reaches 120°C and 14 days of night when it drops to -130°C.
The most practical option under these circumstances is a power source that is very compact, relatively light, and uses fuel with an extremely high energy density. In other words, nuclear.
Contracts for the Fission Surface Power Project, awarded in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, have been awarded to Lockheed Martin, Westinghouse and IX and their partner companies to develop initial designs for lunar nuclear reactors. The duration of the first phase of contracts is 12 months.
Source: Ferra
