“There is now a political certification that we did not have before,” she adds. “Finally and above all, the private sector is not only interior to the use of space nuclear energy, but they are even interested in providing spatial nuclear energy.” Both Startups And the establishment of aerospace companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin seek the use of nuclear energy in space. “There are a lot of puzzle pieces that have a bit together in the right direction, where we can really MoOve.”

The Artemis program of NASA is supposed to lay the foundations for a permanent base in Pole South Lunar and Pioneer Technologies for Moove on Mars, although His future is uncertain. Be that as it may, the energy needs of any crew mission in exotic environments like the Moon, where last night two weeks and the temperatures fluctuated wildly, need power speady and abundant.

“Lunar gravity and thermal oscillations are brutal,” explains LAL. “Diurnal temperatures are around 100 degrees Celsius. The night is close to zero APSOLUTE. All the electronic elements must be hard. Although I am honest, the greatest risks are not technical. The greatest risk is to maintain this momentum and the mission objective.”

Enter China, which also provides a moon base at the South Pole. This region is rich in resources and water ice, making it an attractive exploration site and a permanent potential present, and China is in talks with Russia to associate with the construction of a reactor by 2035. These developments have galvanized NASA officials, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry. energy to enter the race.

“It could be done, because we are doing very well here in the United States, we have a strong opponent, and we have not had one for 40 years,” explains Mohamed El-Genk, professor of nuclear engineering and founding director of the Institute for Space and Nuclear Energy at the University of New Mexico. “But many things have to be around the world to happen.”

How would it all work?

The Duffy directive included some details on the design or scale of the planned reactor, and it is to assume that the concepts could emerge in the coming months.

“To advance American competition further and leadership of the lunar surface within the framework of the Artemis campaign, NASA moves quickly to advance the development of FISS surface power,” said Bethany Stevens, press secretary at the NASA headquarters, in an email in Wired. “This critical technology will support lunar exploration, will try the production of high power energy on Mars and will strengthen our national security in space. Among the efforts to advance development, NASA will be appointed to the new program manager to manage this work, as well as to apply for a proposal to the industry with 60 days.

The directive echoes the results of During recent reports On Space Nuclear Power, co-written by LEL and the aerospace engineer Roger Myers, which included “Go or Big or Home option to build a 100 kW reactor on the moon by 2030.

This 100 kW design would be “roughly equivalent to sending an adult African elephant coupes to the moon with a unfolding umbrella of the size of a basketball court, except that elephants produce heat and that this umbrella is not for shadow, it is to pour heat into space”, declared LAL in a follow-up e-mail.