drstrangelove
- Technology
Nuclear Moon Bases
When lunar astronauts flick on their televisions after a long day of prospecting, they’ll have a trashcan-size nuclear reactor to thank for their nightly dose of prime time. NASA, looking past the already daunting task of simply getting humans to the moon by 2020, recently started considering proposals for ways to power lunar habitats. Batteries and fuel cells provide only short-term solutions. Solar power would be limited where a single night lasts as long as 354 hours. So space-agency officials have started making plans to go nuclear.
11.21.2008 at 12:22am - Comment by drstrangeloveBrightblade81, you are correct about NASA already building and deploying a nuclear reactor without moving parts(called the SNAP-10A). The issue with using this design is that it is much less efficient(about the same as solar) at producing electricity than a Brayton or Stirling equipped system. Increased efficiency allows for a smaller reactor, thus, a lighter, cheaper to launch system overall.
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