Artemis Program: NASA Reaffirms Plans for Nuclear Reactors on the Moon
NASA wants to bring humans back to the Moon, this time they are meant to stay. Nuclear reactors are also necessary for this, the US space agency has reaffirmed.
(Image: Elena11 / Shutterstock.com)
NASA has reaffirmed that, even under the new administrator, targeted efforts will be made to install nuclear reactors on the Moon and in lunar orbit within a few years. The US space agency announced this today, stating that a partnership has been formed with the US Department of Energy for this purpose. The nuclear power plants are intended to be operational by 2030 and ensure that the USA maintains its leadership role in space. The use of nuclear power is essential for the planned return of humanity to the Moon, added the new NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman. The goal is a “golden age of space exploration and discovery.”
Isaacman's predecessor, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, issued the order to prepare the nuclear reactors last summer. Such devices are intended to supply the planned lunar base and a space station with electricity and heat, it was stated at the time. They are to generate 100 kW and operate for years without the nuclear fuel needing to be replaced. Private companies are to be commissioned with development and construction. As early as the summer of 2022, NASA commissioned three companies to develop a design concept for a small nuclear reactor to be brought to the Moon by the end of the decade. Each received five million US dollars for this.
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NASA's announcement comes just days before the Artemis program for humanity's return to the Moon enters a crucial phase. The NASA giant rocket SLS is to be brought to its launch pad for the first time this weekend, and as early as February, it could launch humans to Earth's satellite for the first time in over 50 years. However, the Artemis-2 mission does not yet include a landing; the four people on board an Orion spacecraft are only intended to orbit the Moon. This serves as preparation for the Artemis-3 mission, which is scheduled to land humans on the Moon in 2028 and prepare a permanent base. However, much about the further plans remains unclear.
(mho)
