Lunar nuclear reactor: Applications are open!
Barely returned from his second stay in the International Space Station (ISS), Thomas Pesquet already mentioned a potential new start ... From 2024, the French amazing could indeed take off towards the moon, or rather towards its orbit, within the frameworkLunar Gateway orbital station project.The latter is at the center of the Artemis program led by NASA, which plays in particular to send humans in exploration to the only natural satellite of the earth by May 2024, the moon alone, the moon.
A star on which the American space agency aims to establish in the near future a base, which must necessarily be supplied with electricity.Ultimately, on site, it will be a question of operating different devices, starting with air purification systems.Until now the astronauts present aboard the ISS were satisfied with solar panels, to live as if to work.In June 2021, Thomas Pesquet had also participated in the implementation of new IROSA solar panels (ISS Roll-out Solar Array).
But for the United States, which one day hopes to colonize the Moon -and why not Mars -, these panels do not constitute a viable technique, as explained in 2020 on the CNBC channel the manager of the NASA nuclear technologies portfolio, Anthony Calomino: "On Mars, the sunshine varies considerably over the seasons and periodic dust storms can last for months".These environmental factors could therefore deprive all the on -site installations of electricity."On the moon, the night lasts the equivalent of 14 earthly days, while sunlight varies considerably near the poles;It is also completely absent in craters which are permanently shaded.Another argument to take into account: the batteries of solar panels have a lifespan rarely exceeding twenty years.